UShowMe Raises €100K Pre-seed Investment Round from Think Bigger Capital

Today, live streaming is an almost $25B industry, expected to continue to dominate the market in the upcoming years. Besides, the COVID pandemic has driven a massive demand for live content as large gatherings were - and still are - off-limits. USHOWME, an interactive live streaming and video-on-demand platform, has become the trailblazer for all kinds of entertainers, known and unknown, by giving them a space to organize their live performances. Demium’s partner fund Think Bigger Capital has awarded this crisis-inspired innovation with a pre-seed investment round of €100K.

Q: Tell us about USHOWME

UshowMe is an interactive Live Streaming and Video-On-Demand platform to help event producers such as venues and music festivals evolve to hybrid shows with multiple revenue streams, deliver new shared social experiences between digital audiences and artists, and give brands new ways of engagement.

The Live show industry was the latest to embrace technology to deliver high engaging experiences with global reach and create new revenue streams. That’s why, when the pandemic hit, they suffered the most. However, even before the pandemic, this industry had problems that were never solved in the right way. Heavily relying on physical ticket sales as the main revenue stream led to many fans missing their favourite shows, because of the physical limitations, while brands who sponsored physical shows never got serious about sponsoring digital shows. That's where UshowMe can bring extreme value by solving all these problems.
Above all, live shows are fun shared social experiences and with UshowMe, we are creating new digital experiences where fans can express their emotions and interact with artists in an entertaining meaningful way.
The fact that Apple just announced they will be investing in shared experiences, it’s a huge validation for us in terms of our strategic vision where this particular hybrid is the future as expressing emotions is turning out to be a must-have bringing about high ROI.

Q: What was it like raising a round for the first time?  

It shows that hard work, a solid team, a clear vision and strategy pay-off. Of course with this investment comes greater responsibility. 

Q: What will you focus your initial funding on? 

With this initial funding, we will be able to recruit and retain the necessary talent and switch gears into warp-speed, executing our strategic roadmap and starting to scale in other countries at a later date, this year.

Q: What did you find investors valued most about your startup?  

A solid team with years of experience in the industry where we operate, a clear vision showing a strong differentiator and an industry that has proven its skyrocketing growth.

Q: What advice would you offer other entrepreneurs looking for first round funding?

A proper validation with a working MVP and a deep knowing of the industry you will be operating in, are mandatory. Also, being able to explain your solution in a clear way justifying what problems you are solving and why this is a business they should invest in.

Be sure to dig deep in finding the right mentors and advisors for your business and be brutally honest with them, your team and yourself, so you can learn as much as you can from them.

Find partners that will help you grow your business as in the beginning you’d want to remain as lean and flexible as possible. Don’t be afraid to pivot and adapt your strategy, as you will be fine-tuning everything one way or another

Raising investment can be very time-consuming, so you need to rest properly, eat well and take some time off to take care of yourself, and your team will help you stay focused and avoid burnout.

Q: What role did Demium play in this first investment round?

They were always there for us, that’s a fact and we feel that this high supportive role is what made the difference, especially in the early stages of our startup.

The mentor’s network available is outstanding and provided us with deep, valuable feedback, which we used to improve our pitch and strategy. By having access to an international network, we are working together with other professionals becoming successful in executing our expansion and scaling plans. For other startups looking to grow their business and raise their first investment, we truly recommend getting to know Demium’s incubation team first, as they will play a crucial role in helping you grow, raise investment funds and create new relations with TBC investors, same as they did for us