LA investor leads funding boost for revived media-focused Scottish tech firm

Recast CEO Andy Meikle said: 'What began as a streaming service has now transformed into a dynamic fintech platform for the entire media industry.' Picture: Ian Georgeson.

An Edinburgh-based tech firm has closed a $5 million (£3.9m) funding round led by a major US venture capital firm.

Recast, which describes itself as a fintech-for-media platform, said the investment will support further development of its smart payment platform and enhance its micro-payment wallet, facilitating the sale of digital commodities “anywhere on the internet, beyond its current offering that supports monetising video and live streams”.

The round was led by venture capital firm Morpheus Ventures, which is headquartered in Los Angeles, with additional investments from Airstream Ventures, and Cooley.

Morpheus Ventures, which has backed technology companies including Skype and Edinburgh-founded sports betting platform FanDuel, said it recognised Recast's potential to revolutionise the media fintech landscape. The investment specialist’s managing partner Joseph Miller said the Scottish firm has developed “the right product at the right time", adding: "Much like Shopify revolutionised e-commerce with its versatile platform, Recast is set to transform digital content monetisation and distribution.”

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Airstream Ventures, founded by Gavin Petken, former head of investments at BGF, and Ed Woodward, previously executive vice-chairman of Manchester United, has also bolstered its initial investment. The Recast board will include Miller and Petken, along with Recast chief executive Andy Meikle.

Petken said: "Recast’s proven data-capture and monetisation capabilities made our decision easy. With conversion rates of over 15 per cent from destination landing to cash, Recast’s solution enables rights owners to quickly and seamlessly unlock latent value from customers. Recast will no doubt establish itself as a core enabling technology and is therefore a perfect fit for the Airstream Ventures portfolio."

Meikle said: “What began as a streaming service has now transformed into a dynamic fintech platform for the entire media industry. With Cooleys' legal prowess, Airstream Ventures' deep connections in sports, media, and entertainment and Morpheus Ventures' impressive track record, experience, and extensive network, particularly in the US, I know we have the right strategic ingredients to realise our vision.”

The funding round comes after Recast in September of last year fell into administration, attributed to key funding from a “major investor” failing to materialise. The sale of its assets by administrator Interpath Advisory to Content Technology Partners was announced the following month.