Ex-Facebook, Disney Hotstar execs’ startup lands $4.5m in Accel-led round

Live-video infrastructure platform 100ms has raised US$4.5 million in a seed round led by US-based venture capital firm Accel. Strive, the VC unit of Japan-based Gree International, also pumped in capital.

With the fresh funds, 100ms plans to hire more people for its video engineering team, develop its product to create templates for live use cases, and simplify video access for companies.

Founded in October 2020 by former Facebook and Disney Hotstar executives Kshitij Gupta, Aniket Behera, and Sarvesh Dwivedi, 100ms provides infrastructure that allows companies to add Zoom-style video conferencing inside their applications within hours.

“Zoom is getting unbundled. Huge markets are being unlocked which are now leveraging white-labeled video/audio – edtech, telehealth, gaming retail, fitness, audio rooms, among others,” said Behera. “100ms aims to be the infrastructure layer for all these industries.”

The market for live audio and video infrastructure services is set to grow from US$4.2 billion in 2019 to US$17.7 billion in 2024. This estimated growth comes amid an increasing need for enterprises to engage customers with social media and extended apps to include over-the-top (OTT) messaging, along with diverse notification channels.

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Companies such as Paytm Insider, BookMyShow unit Townscript, and Circle have signed up with 100ms. The startup is also working with firms in sectors such as edtech, gaming, fitness, telehealth, and virtual events to create video integrations.