With more than 100 meetings听with intrigued VCs听under her belt, you鈥檇 think Rose Hulse听would have听had little trouble听securing听substantial听investment听for her start-up.听
However, the Californian with听senior experience at the likes of the Sundance Institute, NBC Universal and music听licensing firm听Audio Network听found that would-be investors turned cold the moment she walked into the room.听
Her听brainchild听ScreenHits, based in London听with a tech team in Romania,听would go on to power听video distribution platforms for听American media giant听Turner Broadcasting and听count听IMG, Disney, Sony Pictures Television, BBC Worldwide听and NBC Universal听among its clients.听听
Yet as a black woman, they didn’t see her as a game-changing entrepreneur.听
鈥淭hey weren’t comfortable meetings. It was almost as though they were saying: ‘This is a brilliant idea 鈥� but what makes you think that you’re going to be able to do it?’ They just did not see that I would be the one to change an industry,鈥� she tells听老九品茶Cloud. 鈥淚t was almost like a joke to them.鈥�听
It is well-documented that less than 1p in every pound invested goes to all-female founding teams.听More under the radar, perhaps, is听the fact the figures are similar for black- and minority-owned businesses. Startlingly,听just 13 per cent of black- and minority-owned businesses have secured angel or VC investment.听
鈥淲hen I worked for big companies, even if they didn’t respect me, they respected the brand 鈥� so they dealt with me.听[Even then] I had to win them over in literally less than 25 seconds to change the mood in the room so they would take me seriously,鈥� Hulse recounts.听听
鈥�When I was launching a new brand that no one ever heard of, when they saw me, I felt that the questions they asked were meant to make me feel as though I didn’t deserve to be in that room.听What’s your discounted cash flow? Tell me exactly how you came up with your valuation?听听
鈥�I was not a public company; I was a brand-new start-up seeking seed. Why was I being asked these difficult questions? It was literally meant to be an elevator pitch which should have been followed up later with, ‘okay, let’s get into some of the details, send me the financials’. I have finance people for those questions.听
鈥淚 was put on the defence. People听say听‘you win some and you lose some’, and that is true; but in my situation, I didn’t even have a chance to win because they never let me enter the race.鈥�听
BLM听
Following Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd in the United States in May,听Black Women in Asset Management 鈥� a group of 300 industry professionals in England and Wales 鈥� wrote听an open letter听to investment firms听requesting that they听move听beyond statements听of solidarity听with the black community.听
Fewer than 1% of investment managers听in the UK听are black, according to industry body the Investment Association. The black community makes up 3% of the total population and听more than 13% in London, where听the majority of听asset management firms are based.听
BWAM鈥檚 view is that听the question of racial equality has been forgotten amid calls to increase the number of women in the investment sector.听鈥淭his agenda has largely excluded black women. Racial issues are often perceived as too abstract, polarising, or political,鈥澨�it said.听
Hulse continues:听鈥�I had over 100 meetings, which made me believe that VCs knew that I had something on my hands. When they then invested 拢20m in my competitors, who didn’t even have a product in this country, it was the complete red flag.听That competitor is pretty much going out of business听now.听听
鈥�Look what I did with no money;听what I could have done if I had听had听that 拢20m? I have the product, I have the customers, I have the passion, I have the team; we were hungry, and we deserved a chance.鈥�听
COMPETITOR听
The competitor to which Hulse refers is TRX, which was launched by brothers David and Matthew Frank in 2017 with support from a VC,听Channel听4 and Sky.
Billed as 鈥榯he world’s TV rights market鈥�, the transactional marketplace brings together听programme makers and the media companies who might purchase the rights to screen them.听As with Hulse鈥檚 original idea for听ScreenHits听鈥� which sparked when she saw great independent films at Sundance fail to secure distribution听deals听鈥� it听removes听the need for face-to-face听deal–making.听
The founders, both white males,听announced their departure from TRX late last year, stepping down as executive chairman and CEO respectively,听although they are still听labelled as occupying those roles听on the firm鈥檚 website.听
鈥�There were two investors that had three or four meetings with me to just gather information听鈥撎�and听then they didn’t invest,鈥� Hulse recounts.听鈥�I told them I had another investor that would match if they came in as a lead investor听[but]听they told me I needed to get a lead investor.听听
鈥�I had somebody willing to put in half a million, and they wouldn’t do it;听but then they听invested 拢2m听in my competitors. So that was kind of a slap in the face.听
鈥淚 had to find other ways around it. I didn’t need them, clearly: nobody needs VCs. It’s better if you don’t need them, because then you can take control of your product.听If somebody does get a VC and the company does well, most times that person who founded it gets pushed out for somebody else to come in.鈥�听
PIVOTS听
ScreenHits听underwent something of a pivot in 2015 when Turner Broadcasting approached Hulse asking to license a white label version听of its听first听B2B marketplace.听听
鈥淭he biggest studios were not coming听to听our听marketplace because they didn’t want听lose听their relationship with their buyer,鈥� says Hulse.听鈥�Turner听wanted us to aggregate the听content听across all their channels听鈥�听TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim听鈥撎�and put it听into our format, so their buyers could听see it. It was an interesting transition.鈥�听
The more recent move into the consumer space听began when certain clients鈥� use of听ScreenHits听fell away. 鈥淲e asked them听why this was,鈥� says Hulse.听“Disney said: Look, our mandate听pretty high听up is that we need to start getting our licences back, because we’re going to be creating our own streaming platform听鈥�听so听our only real interest is on original programmes or productions.鈥�听
That streaming platform, Disney+, has amassed more than 73m subscribers in its first year since launch.听
鈥淲e heard this story again, from NBC and Warner Media.听We thought听鈥榦h my God, what’s going to happen to our business if everybody creates听their own direct-to-consumer platform and听are not licensing听third–party听content anymore?鈥�听We decided to look at our tech and think听about听how听we听could adapt to the market and provide a product that would听be beneficial to these [media companies].听
鈥�What we noticed was that once you start getting into five or six streaming services,听it becomes difficult for the consumer to discover content and听see what’s available across all their platforms without听opening up听every听app.听We realised that our existing tech was perfect for it.鈥�听
CONSUMER LAUNCH听
听aggregates听existing streaming subscriptions and internet video into one听interface.听Set for full launch in December,听it will allow users to browse听services such as听Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+,听Britbox,听the听BBC iPlayer, ITV Hub, Kidoodle听and听Eurosport听in one place.听听
The firm recently raised听拢1.6m in听a听Series A funding听round which included existing investors听Paul Atkinson of Par Equity,听Edward Mackay, Rory Flemming, Jonathan Marshall and听the UK government鈥檚 Future Fund.听The app will be available听on听desktop, Apple and Android devices,听Smart TVs, Amazon Fire Stick, Roku Stick听and Google Chromecast.听
鈥淚t’s not just a video streaming player; it is a very intelligent system听which听acts like a visual remote control,鈥� says Hulse.听鈥淚t helps to streamline the viewing experience.听Customers can also curate their channels and subscriptions, only paying for channels they actually want to watch versus contributing monthly to the channels they never watch.鈥�听
ScreenHits听TV will also allow users to bundle services together at a cost saving.听鈥淭here’s an indie film package, there’s a family package, a听kids听package. That’s very important.听
鈥�We’re听also听working with听IndieFlix听and听Sundance听TV听[as]听independent film is very important for us.听[However]听we听never听will take more than 50 apps on our platform because it is a very crowded听marketplace听–听and听we want to make sure that our partners’ content is being seen by the right people and they’re not being lost in a sea of content.鈥�听
The platform has accrued听more than 100,000 signups before launch. 鈥�Once people find the product, and they see it, they will use it,鈥� is Hulse鈥檚 confident view.听
鈥�We want to be the听TV programming guide of the future. As people start to cut the cord, and they’re starting to get more streaming apps online, we want to be the place people go听to find听the next thing they want to watch.鈥�听