Ittybit, a pioneering developer tools company, has closed a 拢1.5 million oversubscribed funding round led by Mercuri and Sure Valley Ventures.聽
The investment will enable Ittybit to further its mission of making AI-led media pipelines accessible to developers worldwide.
Ittybit provides cutting-edge APIs and tools designed to simplify the uploading, storing and delivery of large video, image and audio files.聽
Leveraging state-of-the-art computer vision models, Ittybit empowers developers to filter unsafe uploads, enhance content searchability and automate tagging and transcription processes.
Its innovative AI-based compression tool – akin to those used by industry giants like Netflix and Meta – ensures faster downloads and reduced storage costs without compromising visual quality.
Strength:Lab, an online PE lessons provider for over 80,000 children, reported an 80% reduction in bandwidth costs when using the tech. Another client, a large podcast, successfully transcribed over 1,000 episodes from their back catalogue, enhancing search functionality and building a robust content recommendation engine.聽
Early adopters have used Ittybit to manage over 100,000 images and 5,000 hours of user-generated video.
Oxford Capital, angel investors and Baltic Ventures participated in the round for Ittybit, a recent graduate of Baltic Ventures鈥� first accelerator cohort.
“Ittybit was created to address the pain we felt handling large videos in our previous companies,鈥� said Paul Williams, founder.聽
鈥淲e built the media tools we wished we’d had access to, and are making them available to all developers, because robust media workflows shouldn’t be so expensive or complicated that only the largest tech companies can access them.
鈥淲e knew we could raise capital, but it was important to bring investors onboard who can also provide commercial and operational expertise. Mercuri鈥檚 extensive media industry connections and investments in leading AI companies, plus Sure Valley Ventures鈥� specialist focus on AI aligns perfectly with our vision for the company.聽
鈥淲e have an ambitious mission and their support will help us get there much faster.”
Williams is a repeat founder who brings 20 years of experience in video production with notable companies such as EA Sports, Adidas and Nike. The wider team has worked on video encoding and delivery across the BBC, Channel 4 and Hulu.
James Pringle, principal at Mercuri, added: 鈥淢ercuri is thrilled to invest in Ittybit, recognising that the future of media lies in instant delivery.聽
鈥淎s specialists in media and creative industries, we see Ittybit as a groundbreaking solution that excels in speed, quality, and cost-efficiency. While it鈥檚 still early, we are enthusiastic about Ittybit鈥檚 potential to significantly impact and grow within the dynamic media landscape.鈥�
Brian Kinane, founding partner, Sure Valley Ventures, said: 鈥淚ttybit鈥檚 proprietary machine learning solution is transforming the costs of hosting media for both SMEs and Enterprises globally.聽
鈥淲e are delighted to back a Manchester-based, cutting-edge AI company who are well-positioned to execute on their mission to democratise media hosting, at a time when the innovation of multimodal large language models is enabling content creation at an unprecedented scale.聽
鈥淭his deal is a great example of why we established a northern office in Manchester 鈥� to find high growth AI companies with significant global potential.鈥�