London-based Deep Render bags €8.48 million to solve the internet’s data and bandwidth crisis

Tech startup Deep Render has raised €8.48 million ($9 million) as it revolutionizes how we use, share and consumer content, tackling the internet’s data problem at the same time. The London-based company now plans to scale up operations.

It’s a data-driven world we’re living in, and it’s estimated that the amount of data on the internet is doubling every two years. It’s an incredible amount of data for the internet to withstand, and continue to operate with. As a result, we’ve reached a point where there is too much data traffic, and too little bandwidth to handle it, and existing compression technologies are buckling under pressure.

Deep Render, a startup from London, is on a mission to solve the crisis. The company has built a video compression algorithm that shrinks video sizes without sacrificing relative streaming quality.

Co-founder and CTO, Arsalan Zafar: “If something doesn’t change soon, the free and open web as we know it will cease to exist. The impossibility of matching data growth and demand to infrastructure expansion is a ticking time bomb. It’s a threat for Big Tech companies whose business models rely on sustained content delivery to users. It’s a threat for governments spending billions of taxpayers money on upgrading their networks. It’s a threat for consumers faced with poor experiences, or huge costs. And fundamentally it’s a threat to the planet through rising, streaming-related emissions. With Deep Render, we want to completely free the digital world from any bandwidth limitations with pioneering AI compression technology”.

Today, Deep Render, has announced an €8.48 million ($9 million) raise to scale the transformational tech. The round consists of a $6.3 million Series A round, led by IP Group and Pentech Ventures, plus a highly competitive grant from the European Innovation Council of $2.7 million.

Eddie Anderson, founding partner at Pentech Ventures: “We are as committed to the belief that Deep Render will fundamentally transform our digital lives today as we were when we first invested back at Seed in 2020. In fact, the advancements that have been made since, the deals that have been signed, and the growing number of proof points make us even more sure that the team can shift the dial. Not a sentence or a claim we make lightly.”  

Founded in 2018, Deep Render’s solution for video compression takes a new approach. It mimics the neural processes of the human eye. In this way, Deep Render’s AI-powered codec makes videos up to 5x smaller compared to the most-used market standards, reducing content delivery costs for businesses by up to 80%.

By using this tech, it’s reported that a VOD streaming service (such as Netflix) could save up to $1.6 billion yearly on content delivery costs.

The solution can also be used to offer end-users a tremendously increased video quality experience at no extra cost. It makes premium quality video more accessible, such as 4K video call on Zoom, 4K streams on Twitch, and high-quality 4K Netflix streaming all available without paying the premium price.

Co-founder and CTO Arsalan Zafar: “Five years ago, Chri and I founded Deep Render to bet on AI Compression and the AI-Accelerator hardware ecosystem. After years of hard work and exceptional R&D, we’ve built the world’s first AI Codec. This is an iPhone moment for the compression industry, which will never be the same again. We expect 100s of millions of users in 2024 and billions by 2026. It is an incredible feeling creating something that can positively impact so many people”.

By taking a software approach, the tech is instantly deployable and scalable, making this a very accessible and revolutionary tech leap. Until now, compression tech has relied upon specialised hardware. In addition, Deep Render’s software has been built to harness and scale with the AI hardware that’s already in use in 100s of millions of devices. Hardware including Apple’s Neural Engine (ANE), Qualcomm, Samsung and MediaTek’s Neural Processing Units (NPUs) and more. As a result, millions of end users could benefit from Deep Render’s AI-based technology immediately.

Deep Render’s Co-founder and CEO Chri Besenbruch: “The fact we’ve raised new funding from such visionary investors and partnered with some of the world’s biggest tech names is a testament to our incredible team and the standout product we’re building. Big Tech companies distribute billions of videos a day. Global video consumption is rising rapidly, and user demand for higher-quality video is exploding. With our AI-powered breakthrough, we are uniquely positioned to take over the industry, benefiting all customers, stakeholders and the public”.

AI-based compression is a transformative, lucrative and quickly evolving market to tap into – estimated to be worth $10 billion by 2030. While the tech advances, so does its reach. For instance, the benefits of Deep Render’s AI-powered technology apply to any media content application worldwide: from video-on-demand, live streaming, and video chat; to the metaverse, AR, VR and cloud gaming offerings. But, more niche use cases also include satellite imaging, the CCTV market, remote drone flying, and national defence forces.

One impactful use case is to cut internet infrastructure costs by acting as a multiplier on existing fibre optic networks. This helps decrease the urban-rural inequality for high-speed internet access and helps to save taxpayer money on broadband expansion.

Additionally, streaming with 5x reduced file sizes also helps to cut the carbon emissions of video streaming by as much as 80%, giving the technology a significantly green impact.

With this fresh investment, the startup will grow its team, accelerate commercial engagement, fuel international expansion plans, and, further roll out the technology in a way that is both sustainable while making maximum impact.

Jon Edignton, Head of Software Investment at IP Group: “It’s become almost cliched for tech brands to describe themselves as disruptive and revolutionary, but Chri, Arsalan and the team at Deep Render certainly buck this trend. They have created an innovation that has the potential to completely transform the internet as we know it while supporting a truly free and open web.”

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• Source: https://www.eu-startups.com/2023/03/london-based-deep-render-bags-e8-48-million-to-solve-the-internets-data-and-bandwidth-crisis/