Fireside is an interactive entertainment app that lets creators, celebrities, brands and IP owners produce live and virtual streaming shows with audience engagement, recording and simulcast capabilities. The product includes tools for promotion, editing, measurement, distribution, monetization (now focused on subscriptions) and audience growth, and allows viewers to engage via phone while watching on big screens. Last year’s acquisition of streaming TV platform Stremium is being used to accelerate smart-TV interactivity and to onboard over 100 networks and 24/7 broadcasting partners such as USA Today, Ted Talks and Docurama. The company plans to bring its interactive technology to smart TVs, Fire TV, Apple TV and Roku, with an “On Now” indicator and real-time reactions. Fireside has attracted high-profile creators (Jay Leno, Michael Dell, Tyler Henry) and partners like Heather Dubrow’s HD Network; it also reports monetization claims—stating talent and brands can make a minimum of $35 million in annual recurring net new revenue in year one and that it is seeing a “minimum of $100K” within the first hours of a stream’s launch. The company says it has tested tickets, advertising and web3 experiments but now focuses on subscriptions and is aiming to reach profitability this year. Fireside is building a podcasting platform that lets creators broadcast, record, interact live with listeners, and monetize conversations using built-in analytics. The founders are Mark Cuban and Falon Fatemi; Fatemi previously founded and led AI startup Node and sold it in 2020. Job postings for Fireside began appearing in September 2020, and the company told The Verge the app is expected to launch in 2021. According to an engineering job listing, Fireside closed a “multimillion” seed round to begin operations. The platform will let podcasters choose how to monetize and will curate content for the service. Company statements say Fireside aims to foster intelligent dialogue, authentic relationships, and to amplify public influence through meaningful conversations.

Total raised

$25M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Series A

Latest activity

Apr 2023