Biites, a Global Branded Content Platform, Secures Funding from FirstPartyCapital to Fuel International Expansion

by ExchangeWire PressBox on 7th Oct 2021 in News

The Copenhagen-based startup launches in the UK today (7 October), having completed its Seed funding round with FirstPartyCapital, an operator-led fund that invests in digital media and marketing companies.

Biites’ platform is specifically built with long form branded video in mind, giving owners of premium content a unique distribution channel that includes powerful tools for audience analytics and automated amplification. Biites enables brands to connect with consumers in a premium, brand-safe, ad-free environment, while building extremely detailed first-party data sets that can be used to optimise future campaigns and help to shape creative production.

“After outstanding success across Europe in the last few years, we’re pleased to now offer Biites to UK brands. We’re seeing a huge appetite from consumers wanting to watch quality, ad-free long-form content, offering a massive opportunity for brands who are normally limited to 6 or 30 second ad slots. Videos on Biites are always guaranteed a minimum average playtime, far in excess of industry benchmarks, to ensure high quality viewership and audience engagement. Biites is the premium platform for brand storytelling and we deliver industry leading video engagement KPIs that are 5x higher than YouTube and 55x higher than Facebook,” says Nina Nørgaard Jacobsen, CEO and founder at Biites.

These industry leading engagement figures earned the company a place on BusinessInsider’s recent list of The 16 hottest live-streaming startups in 2021.

“Our advanced technology and ad-free strategy delivers an optimised user experience, in a 100% brand safe, 100% viewable, and always ‘sound on’ environment unmatched by any competitor. The future for brands is all about connecting with their audiences in a better way. Today’s consumers expect to be told “why” to buy - and not “how” to buy. That’s one of the strengths with using longform quality video as a fixed part of the video distribution - and it’s time for UK brands to ensure they don’t get left behind,” said Helle Jabiri Falck, CCO/COO and founder at Biites.

Biites will use the recent investment from FirstPartyCapital to invest in its proprietary technology stack, which will include its own video player, a world class analytics engine, and a self-serve SaaS solution. The product roadmap is being overseen by technical advisor Adam Johnston, the former head of ad tech at Sky.

“We’ve been incredibly impressed with Biites. It’s a phenomenal proposition for marketers to finally have a solution that enables them to distribute all of their long-form video content, capture detailed first party data, and use these insights to build audiences which can then be activated across major channels, all within a single platform,” said Rich Ashton, managing partner at FirstPartyCapital.

“With an industry-leading average View Through Rate of 51% and an average viewing time of 5.5 mins per play, Biites is achieving unparalleled engagement metrics, which is incredibly valuable for brands. The technology they’re building will enable brands to seamlessly amplify their content, and gather detailed first-party data which is the holy grail for brands that will no longer be able to use cookies to build their audiences.”

“Biites provides an innovative way for brands to deepen their relationship with consumers while controlling brand safety. Through a data-driven experience, they can tell an uninterrupted story which allows for a more memorable experience and incredible engagement. At a time when more consumers are choosing ad-free and shorter ad formats, this is a unique and intelligent way to ensure brands can still advertise effectively and creatively,” said Denise Colella, FirstPartyCapital board representative at Biites.

Biites is now active in the US, UK, Germany and Scandinavia, and will continue to open new markets in 2022 in response to high client demand.