Video Distribution Startup Zype Raises $4.9 Million in Series A

Zype, a three-year-old startup that lets publishers distribute and monetize their own video content, has raised $4.9 million in a Series A funding round.

Runa Capital led the funding round, which also included previous investors Revel Partners, Alpine Meridian Ventures, Point Nine Capital, and Entrepreneurs Investment Fund. The latest round brings Zype’s total cash raised to $8.5 million and comes at the end of a year in which Zype’s customer growth went up by over 200%.

The new funding will help the OTT video distribution service “accelerate our product roadmap to empower our existing customers and reach new businesses looking for easy and automated OTT solutions,” said Zype co-founder and CEO, Ed Laczynski.

In part, that means bolstering Zype University, an initiative the company launched in August that aims to teach people how to successfully build online video enterprises. In addition to lessons open to the public that cover “marketing and promotion” and “audience development,” Zype University offers specialized consulting to some of its own clients.

Zype’s clients include Global Citizen, Paula Deen, and Entrepreneur. They span genres ranging from sports to educational and children’s programming. Meanwhile, Runa Capital’s portfolio includes web-based software providers in addition to Zype such as Procurify, Comindware, SchoolMint, and Revegy, all of which are at the Series A level.

Zype is headquartered in New York and also has offices in Los Angeles. Laczynski launched the company in 2014 with his co-founder and now COO, Chris Bassolino.