Sesamy builds a cross-platform marketplace and pay-per-content system for digital media—ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts and individual news articles—using DRM to let buyers consume purchases in any app or device. Founded in Sweden in 2021 by the team behind Acast (Karl Rosander, Måns Ulvestam and Markus Ahlstrand), the company also offers a SmartID paywall technology that optimizes single-article pricing and can nudge readers toward subscriptions. Sesamy says it already has partnerships with “every major publisher” in Sweden and Denmark, and has SmartID integrations being piloted with Swedish publications Breakit and Kvartal. The product roadmap includes expanding its paywall technology deeper into Europe and eventually the U.S., and selectively growing its B2C online store offering into additional markets. On the technical side, Sesamy emphasizes flexible, transparent paywalls and data-driven pricing (article length, exclusivity, age) to avoid cannibalizing publishers’ subscription revenue. Financially, Sesamy announced a $3.4 million seed round that brings total funding to $7.5 million since inception. Sesamy provides a platform allowing customers to purchase audio and ebooks online for any kind of device. The service enables single purchases of digital content so users pay only for the content they want on any app or device. The company was founded in Sweden in 2020 by Måns Ulvestam, Karl Rosander, and Markus Ahlstrand and is based in Stockholm. Sesamy raised €4M in seed funding. Backers included GP Bullhound, Edastra and Peter Dahlberg, and GP Bullhound representatives will join the company’s board. The company intends to use the funds for international expansion throughout 2021.

Total raised

$8M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Seed

Latest activity

Nov 2022