The journey of Netshow.me, a Brazilian OTT (Over-the-Top) broadcasting technology startup, started when entrepreneurs Daniel Arcoverde and Rafael Belmonte glimpsed an opportunity with the expansion of 4G and fiber optic internet infrastructure in the country: a platform focused on live concerts. At that time, the proposal had much more to do with a new concept of an entertainment product than with technology.
It was 2013 and the idea of a live concert broadcasted over the internet was still highly unusual. Belmonte and Arcoverde persevered and, in the first years, managed to stream more than 3,000 concerts through the platform. When social media started to bet on their own streaming services, the competition got bigger and the entrepreneurs realized that it would not be possible to compete on an equal level with global players such as Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube. The way out was to pivot the business.
The turning point came when the partners got a phone call from a Napster executive. The company wanted to use Netshow.me’s technology with Napster’s branding, creating a platform for Napster artists’ events.
That was when we first realized the great potential of B2B. At the time, our product was a free platform, we only profited if the artist was selling. We decided to pivot the business, and then we stopped being a marketplace for concerts to become a live streaming SaaS for companies. We started a new Netshow.me.
Daniel Arcoverde, co-founder at Netshow.me
In 2016, the duo tailored the technology and the product to meet the corporate market and started offering end-to-end solutions for live broadcasts, from live software to professional audiovisual production and dedicated internet access (DIA). On the platform, client companies were able to broadcast events, sales kick-offs, workshops, and remote meetings. In 2019, the startup acquired SignUp and added an OTT solution to the portfolio, reaching the current business model.
The pivot timing was accurate. In 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic anticipated trends and speeded up the development of solutions for demands until then incipient or even non-existent, and suddenly events, work meetings, classes, courses, and shows migrated to online, Netshow.me was ready to scale.
The result came fast: the startup ended 2020 with a growth of 149% and even resumed the broadcasting of concerts from the beginning of its journey, reaching more than 4,000 artist lives performed last year. It was also the first time the startup turned a profit, according to Arcoverde. The company does not disclose absolute numbers of its operation.
2020 was the breakthrough year. Everything that was ‘nice to have’ became a ‘must have’. Everyone who used to broadcast live because it was innovative, started broadcasting live because it was necessary, it was the only way to get in touch. The streaming market has matured a lot in Brazil. We see this market as an opportunity to be the big player for more sophisticated streaming demands, with a robust platform.
DANIEL ARCOVERDE, CO-FOUNDER AT NETSHOW.ME
A Netflix of one’s own
Netshow.me currently runs on two fronts: it offers all the technology for live streaming, as well as the capturing service through partnerships with production companies; and, what is now the company’s flagship, a complete SaaS (Software as a Service) solution that allows client companies to organize and manage their content broadcast over the internet on a white-label streaming platform.
In other words, it is as if each company had a streaming service of its own, a kind of Netflix with its own visual identity, in which it can make available all sorts of material, from corporate pieces of training and content aimed at the in-house audience to events or workshops broadcast live and then available on demand.
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“Netshow.me currently provides a complete video experience, from capture and live streaming to a white label B2B streaming platform. With our OTT platform, companies can manage content for their internal audience, monetize it through subscriptions, or use the platform to drive leads and enhance the relationship with their audience,” explains Arcoverde.
The solution is being used by companies from a wide range of sectors, and Netshow.me’s clients include companies that were born digital, such as TOTVS, to more traditional companies, such as Gerdau and Santander.
The solution price ranges according to the set of features each client requires, and Netshow.me also gets a commission on the transactions performed within the platform. So far, Netshow.me has performed more than 15,000 lives and has a base of 400 active clients and 150 recurring clients (who use the OTT platform).
Netshow.me has among its investors some Buscapé founders, Wayra, the innovation arm of Telefónica, and Provence Capital, the first institutional investor that led a Seed round in 2016. Now, with the company on a sustainable growth path, the startup is studying a new funding round.
