Online international film distribution marketplace Filmhub Inc. has come out of stealth mode, and it said its $6.8 million funding round last year was led by Menlo Park venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, one of the largest VCs in the world.
Filmhub uses “technology to make streaming deals advantageous, efficient and transparent for thousands of global filmmakers, sales agents and distributors. Over 100 streaming channels are utilizing the Filmhub platform to discover and license content, including Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV, IMDb TV, TCL, Tubi, Plex and more,” said a release from the company.
“With this new injection of capital, Filmhub is poised to continue leading the charge in revolutionizing the way Hollywood works,” said Alan d’Escragnolle, CEO and co-founder of Filmhub, in a news release.
The funding will be used to hire staff and to continue Filmhub’s goal of putting distribution and ownership of a filmmaker’s works directly in their hands instead of the hands of agents and middlemen in the Hollywood model, the company said.
At the end of last year, Filmhub raised $6.8 million for the company that was founded in Santa Monica, but now lists its headquarters as Midtown Sacramento.
The company is operated virtually, and doesn’t have a typical headquarters, said spokesman Alex Sklitsis, via email. Filmhub has 35 employees, all working remotely. The company’s mailing address is in Midtown.
In December, technology company tracker Crunchbase said Filmhub’s investors include San Francisco-based micro venture capital investor FundersClub, Singapore-based DTRIBE Capital and San Francisco-based early-stage venture capital investor NFX, which was an early investor in DoorDash Inc. (NYSE: DASH) and Lyft Inc. (Nasdaq: LYFT).
The investment being led by Andreessen Horowitz was not disclosed at that time, but it now shows up on Crunchbase.
Andreessen Horowitz invests in everything from seed stage rounds for startups all the way to growth rounds for large established companies.
Filmhub's movie distribution platform allows filmmakers to post their movies for potential streaming distribution worldwide by streaming companies. The filmmaker retains rights to the film, and they also earn 80% of the income from worldwide streaming distribution.
Filmhub’s CEO d’Escragnolle is a graduate of The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He has previously worked for tech companies including Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq: INTU) and Square Inc. (NYSE: SQ), according to his LinkedIn page.
The other executive listed in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing by Filmhub is Klaus Badelt, who is listed as a director of the company. His LinkedIn page says he is a co-founder of Filmhub, and that he resides in Santa Monica. Badelt is a film score composer with more than 80 credits on IMDb, including working on several of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movies.
Additionally, Filmhub is launching a new partnership with Los Angeles-based streaming service Struum to accelerate the distribution of content featured at the 2022 Slamdance Film Festival in Utah. Struum allows users to access more than 60 streaming services with a single subscription.
