Streaming Subscription Tracker Antenna Lands $10M In Series A Funding

Antenna, a data firm tracking subscriptions in streaming and other sectors, has wrapped a $10 million Series A funding round, with backers including UTA Ventures and Dick Parsons’ Imagination Capital.

The investment was led by Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments, with other participants including Grit Capital, Hyper, SK Ventures and Waverley Capital. New investors include Raine Ventures.

Antenna said it plans to use the new funds to expand across the growing subscription economy. Along with streaming, businesses specializing in everything from dog food to razors to in-home exercise equipment have followed the direct-to-consumer subscription model.

In streaming video, Antenna’s data on consumer behavior is closely followed by media companies. While it doesn’t focus on viewership data, it can offer indications about whether certain programming — Warner Bros movies offered day-and-date on HBO Max, for example — leads to increased sign-ups or lower churn.

“The rise of the subscription economy is one of the most important impacts of the digital transformation,” said Jonathan Carson, co-founder and CEO of Antenna. “Across video, audio, gaming, health and wellness, education, apparel and more, we are seeing a rise of exciting new consumer brands who use the direct-to-consumer model to build long-term allegiances with their customers.”

Carson is a veteran media exec who was digital CEO at Nielsen and chief revenue officer at Vevo.

Antenna launched in February 2020, just before the coronavirus pandemic sent the focus on subscriptions into overdrive.

“Subscription marketers across all product categories think about three core objectives,” said Rameez Tase, co-founder and president of Antenna. “Acquire customers more efficiently, motivate customers to spend more, and mitigate churn. Antenna helps these businesses achieve all three goals by providing broader context about their
customers, prospects, and market-at-large.”

Sim Blaustein, partner at BDMI, said the company is “impressed by the commercial traction that Antenna has gained so quickly, and the strong reputation they’ve garnered in the industry with marquee customers. As they expand their capabilities and coverage to new areas, we are even more excited about what’s to come.”

Daniel Leff, managing partner at Waverly Capital, noted that his firm has done extensive business with subscription businesses in various sectors. “We believe Antenna’s data-based approach will become the leading solution to power the modern consumer subscription economy,” he said.