Next time you’re in a bar, gym, or vet’s office watching TV channels featuring viral videos, animals, or extreme athletes, chances are the content stream is from Atmosphere, a Fast growing media company from Austin.
Atmosphere said this week it landed $100 million to expand its streaming entertainment service and plans to hire hundreds of new employees.
Atmosphere raised $80 million in a funding round led by Sageview Capital, with investments from Valor Equity Partners and S3 Ventures. The company also raised $20 million in credit facilities provided by Bridge Bank.
The funding – which follows a $25 million fundraise in April – will be used to expand Atmoshpere’s distribution network and grow its content, marketing and ad sales operations, the company said. society.
Brothers Leo and John Resig founded Atmosphere in 2019 as a spin-off from Austin-based Chive Media Group, which they also founded. Chive operates the popular entertainment website theCHIVE.
Atmosphere offers a free, ad-supported streaming platform that streams to restaurants, bars, gyms, hotels, doctor’s offices, and other locations across the country. Its customers include Westin Hotels & Resorts, Taco Bell and Texas Roadhouse.
Atmosphere CEO Leo Resig said his company aims to provide a lower-cost video and audio content option for businesses that want to provide televisions or other video displays in waiting rooms or dining rooms. to eat.
Atmosphere’s platform includes optional Atmosphere audio channels designed to provide venues with free content and an alternative viewing option to sports. Programming includes Atmosphere-owned and operated channels such as Happy TV and CHIVE TV, as well as channels from partners such as Red Bull TV, X Games TV and America’s Funniest Videos TV.
The company provides its hardware and programming to the sites for a one-time $99 activation fee. From there, it makes money through its advertising platform and paid digital signage program that allows sites to run their own advertising between content.
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Over the past year, the company said it has doubled its customer footprint and now has more than 20 million unique viewers each month and streams to more than 18,000 sites globally.
Resig said the company was able to secure its latest funding because of the significant traction Atmosphere has seen over the past year. Atmosphere has seen a boom in customer numbers as businesses seek to cut costs during the coronavirus pandemic.
“In the beginning, many companies looked at their credit card statements and their list of suppliers for whom they pay a lot of money. With all this uncertainty, a lot of people were trying to cut costs,” Resig said. “It has given businesses some downtime to re-evaluate everything they do. We were able to reach people on the phone and present our company. So we’ve seen strong growth in those unique TV businesses that have cut the cord and moved to our ad-supported free TV solution.
Atmosphere increased its employee headcount from 90 to 260 over the past year, Resig said. The company plans to add 350 more people, with the majority of positions in Austin, he said.
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Mike Grisko, CFO of Atmosphere, said the company is working to add product features, improve content and deliver a superior and differentiated product for the TV screens people see every day. days away from home.
“The more we grow, the better this business gets,” Grisko said. “We think we’re onto something here with the final border television revolution.”
The company offers more than 60 channels, many of which are designed for different types of businesses. For example, a channel focused on pets and animals called PawsTV is aimed at veterinary businesses, while another channel called Superhuman TV that includes content about amateur athletes is popular with gyms and health clubs.
“We’re constantly evaluating demand for channels and looking at which industries are playing which channels,” Resig said.
On Wednesday, Atmosphere also announced a partnership with TikTok and plans to add a channel that pulls content from the popular social media platform.
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“TikTok saw an opportunity to leverage existing content from its millions of creators who constantly upload great content to the platform and then build a curated channel,” Resig said.
