Custos Raises More Money to Fight Piracy

The South African startup Custos Media Technologies has reached an agreement with the TIA (Technology Innovation Agency) and will be seeing $400,000 in funding over the next two years.

Custos uses blockchain technology to fight the piracy of media. Many see it as a unique way to fight piracy. It works by embedding a bitcoin bounty with the media. The noticeable watermark can be traced on the blockchain and recognized to identify infringements when the media leave the original recipient.

The code changes everytime the media is received by a different person. This code is used to claim the finder’s fee. When the code is cashed in for the fee, an alert is sent to the contents original producer, so they can check the blockchain for where the leak happened.

This isn’t the first time Custos has seen funding from TIA. They have received R500,000 in the past. TIA is a government set up initiative that grants special financial support with the help of various funds from businesses and institutions, as well as SMMEs (Small Medium Micro Sized Enterprises).

“TIS has again shown their commitment to support early stage technology business in South Africa. The funding agreement will allow Custos to accelerate product development, while simultaneously freeing up resources to spend on bringing the product to the widest possible market,” J-van Rooyen said in a press release.

The new funding follows the startup raised $265,000 of April. Digital Currency Group and a private South African investor helped Custos to raise the funds. Last year Custos raised an initial R2,100,000 from Innovus Technology Transfer. Altogether, that sets Custos at over $800,000 in funds.

In the recent past, Fred Lutz who is Chief Operating Officer for Custos said that the company’s goal is to target Hollywood, to see major movie studios as some of its clients.

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