Streaming video is all the rage, just ask anyone who spends every weekend binge-watching House of Cards or Daredevil on Netflix. University of Maryland alum Pejman "PJ" Taei wanted to offer a similar kind of service for clients of his digital marketing company WebNet Hosting, but couldn't find any ready opportunities.
"I thought I could just go to YouTube and do it," Taei explained in an interview with DC Inno. "But YouTube didn't do protected content or break videos up into chapters. It wasn't what I wanted."
Two years later, and Taei's new startup, Uscreen, has around 200 companies and organizations paying for just that sort of platform, with another 2,000 trial accounts open.
"On-demand video is so flexible as a tool, any brand or content creator finds them helpful. We are onboarding churches, corporations, filmmakers and some big names like Harper Collins." Taei said. "There's a few video platforms out there that sort of touch on subscription but nobody focuses on it in detail. We are honestly the early adapters of the subscription model."
Uscreen can handle subscription billing, offers data analytics and can even be used as the basis for an organization's website depending on the subscription. According to Taei, the flexibility is key to enticing potential clients, close to half of whom are actually based in other countries.
"Uscreen is a white label platform, and anyone looking for video on-demand for things like e-learning of some type of subscription service can find it useful," Taei said. "We tie everything together."
Uscreen has about a dozen employees based our of Rockville, Md. but the company also operates out of the 1776 startup incubator in D.C. Uscreen is fully profitable, Taei said, and hasn't needed to raise any money as of yet. That might change depending on how Taei decides to scale the company, but for now, Uscreen is streaming in money as fast as it streams out video.
"We fill a specific niche," Taei said. "Companies can launch digital subscriptions immediately with us and that's exactly what they are looking for."
