In 2018, Caffeine launched to provide streamers with a platform centered on social media. Later that year, the company bagged a $100 million funding round courtesy of 21st Century Fox.
Four years after its splashy launch, Caffeine is touting its year-over-year growth as it develops new tools for its creators and viewers. During a Creator Town Hall address, Caffeine execs unveiled a number of new products, including the impending launch of video ads on its platform. In addition, the company detailed a number of partnerships that will help it solidify its position at the crossroads of “streaming culture, sports, and music.”
The Town Hall took place at the Fox lot in Century City, California. Ben Keighran, Caffeine’s Founder and CEO, opened the event by sharing some encouraging stats about his platform’s community. Caffeine is on track to have 10 million monthly active users by the end of 2022, and those viewers are eager to spend money on their favorite creators. 14% of Caffeine users are paying customers.
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caffeine Creator Town Hall
Through video ads, Caffeine hopes to bring more revenue to its partners. The company plans to pilot its ads with a select group of creators before giving them a full rollout next year. To help streams take advantage of its monetization options, Caffeine is lowering its cash-out threshold from $100 to $50. “We’re super excited to build with you into 2023,” Keighran said during the town hall.
“Caffeine is offering a new opportunity for creating, distributing, and monetizing great content, for anyone interested in creating live-stream content for culture, sports, and music,” Keighran told Tubefilter. “As a creator-first company, today we’re excited to share case studies of creator success and what we have planned for our creators in the near future.”
The three categories at the center of Caffeine’s community allow the platform to differentiate itself from its competition. You can find gaming content on Caffeine, but it’s also the place to go if you want to watch the NBA alongside a certified battle rapper. Keighran and his team have used partnerships with celebrities and influencers to ensure Caffeine maintains its reputation as social-first and creator-first. “Unlike Twitch and YouTube, we have a people-centric model where we’re more like a social network,” Keighran said back in 2018.
Caffeine’s rollout of new features won’t stop with its video ads. The company is also planning to enable Twitch-style clips by the end of the year.
