A London-based FinTech serving the media and entertainment sectors has been acquired by US trading platform Pipe.
The deal for Purely Capital will see Pipe, creator of a trading platform for recurring revenues, launch a new media and entertainment division.
Its mission is to allow any company with recurring revenues to fund growth on its own terms, without restrictive debt or dilution.
This new division will help producers, rights owners, and distributors drive immediate up-front revenue from their long-term licensing contracts from investment-grade streaming services and broadcasters, including Amazon, Netflix and Disney.
Streaming services and broadcasters typically license content for two to five years from a production company, distributor, or other rights holder and pay quarterly instalments over the length of the licensing period. Production companies and distributors are slowly drip-fed the revenues that they’ve earned, limiting their ability to invest in making or acquiring new content.
At the same time, spending and demand for content are at an all-time high, driven by soaring subscriber growth on global streaming platforms.
Wayne Marc Godfrey, the founder and CEO of Purely Capital, has assumed the role of general manager of Pipe’s Media & Entertainment Division and has been joined by co-founder Dan Abrams and the rest of the Purely team who will help operate the new division.
Purely originated the purchases of over 250 titles from its customers, representing over $45 million in revenues.
“Pipe has built the capital markets engine to connect recurring revenue-generating assets to institutional investors seeking yield,” said Harry Hurst, co-founder and co-CEO at Pipe. “We are excited to announce the acquisition of one of the leading originators of these assets, Purely Capital.
“We met Wayne and his team a little over a year ago and have watched the incredible job they have done scaling their business with limited resources.
“Now, operating under the Pipe platform, we’re confident we’ll be able to continue to tap into this $250 billion/year market and provide a host of financing solutions and a truly category-defining service for the creatives and rights owners that make up this exciting market.”
Godfrey added: “I’ve been passionate about finding new ways to help creators with their entertainment financing needs and long believed that the access to financing needed an overhaul in order to turbo-charge creators.
“Technology is the best solution for this. It drives nearly every other aspect of the entertainment industry, from how content is produced, to how it is distributed and consumed, and it only makes sense to bring finance into the digital age through the incredible platform that Pipe has built.”