venture leaders South Africa has received a new cash injection of over $400,000
scroll south
The Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) has just concluded an agreement with the venture leaders South Africa Custos Media Technologies, providing a funding injection of $400,000 into the startup over the next two years. This follows news earlier this year that Custos had concluded a round of financing with investors that include Innovus Technology Transfer (owned by Stellenbosch University), the New York based Digital Currency Group, and a South African angel investor.
According to GJ van Rooyen, CEO of Custos and venture leaders South Africa, “TIA has again shown their commitment to support earlystage technology businesses in South Africa. The funding agreement will allow Custos to accelerate product development, while simultaneously freeing up resources to spend on bringing the product to the widest possible market.”
Mr Segopotso Moshapo, Head of ICT Strategic Technology Area at TIA concurs: “Custos is a good example of the kind of innovation ventures for which TIA was established to provide support, where science and technology advancements are the basis for creating new products, services and global enterprises.”
The company is targeting the global content protection market, and provides a way for media owners to keep recipients from redistributing copyrighted content – and to rapidly discover when recipients do infringe on their licenses. Custos uses the Bitcoin blockchain to create a “tracking technology” for media piracy, and to outsource the difficult search for pirated content to the filesharing communities themselves. They are currently serving clients in the film industry, and are collaborating with UK based Erudition Digital to bring their solution to ebook publishing.
When asked about how the funding injection will affect Custos’s operation, Fred Lutz, COO, explains that the company’s biggest priority now is to attract the best technical talent possible. “The TIA deal allows us to immediately grow our team. Their funding specifically supports technical development, and that is where we need to focus now.”
Custos Media Technologies is based in the university town of Stellenbosch, in the LaunchLab business accelerator. The company is a business spinout from Stellenbosch University, via the Innovus Technology Transfer Office.
Swiss South African venture leaders is a framework providing motivation, entrepreneurial know how and support to South African and Swiss scientists while contributing to strengthen cooperation between the industries of South Africa and Switzerland.
Swiss South African venture leaders is a framework providing motivation, entrepreneurial know how and support to South African and Swiss scientists while contributing to strengthen cooperation between the industries of South Africa and Switzerland.
