Los Angeles-based livestream platform LiveControl has raised $30m in Series A financing.
Led by Coatue, the round also saw participation from existing investors First Round Capital, Box Group, Susa Ventures, and TriplePoint.
According to TechCrunch, which first reported the news, the round brings LiveControl’s total funding to $33m, following a $3.2m seed round in August 2020.
LiveControl’s Series A announcement comes amidst a frenzy of investment in the virtual concert sector this year, catalyzed by live music’s hiatus during the pandemic.
Just last week for example, US-based virtual concerts startup Flymachine, which claims to deliver “a first-of-its-kind immersive social experience”, raised $21 million in new funding, with backing from music-industry heavyweights like Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw and Wasserman Music Managing Executive, Marty Diamond.
Other livestream platforms to make headlines this year include Mandolin ($12m Series A), DREAMSTAGE (secured strategic investment from Deezer), Scooter Braun-backed Moment House, and Veeps, which sold a minority stake to Live Nation.
TechCrunch reports that LiveControl’s technology has already been used in “hundreds” of venues in the US.
In a blog post announcing the news, the company’s Co-Founder and CEO Patrick Coyne writes that it took his team “years of iterative development” to get the company’s technology to the point where it is now.
“We wanted to understand every edge case of what could arise during remote video production at scale,” he writes. “But we did it. And the result is awesome.”
According to Coyne, “It takes less than an hour to set up LiveControl in a new environment”.
“Despite our exciting progress, our team believes that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what our system is capable of.”
Patrick Coyne, LiveControl
He added: “Despite our exciting progress, our team believes that we’ve only begun to scratch the surface of what our system is capable of.
“We’re automating the many tedious parts of video production; which allows our camera operators to focus on the truly creative aspects that only humans can accomplish.”Music Business Worldwide