Anti-piracy firm MUSO receives £250,000 Technology Strategy Board grant

London-based anti-piracy solutions company MUSO has announced it has secured a £250,000 grant from the government’s Technology Strategy Board, in order to develop a new anti-piracy tool.

Founded in 2008, MUSO offers a range of software-based anti-piracy solutions to the creative industries in the UK, helping to identify, protect and remove illegal content on the web.

The company says it assists more than 1,000 media companies a day in tackling the piracy threat.

The £250,000 Technology Strategy Board ‘Smart Award’ will back the development of a project currently in prototype stage which the company claims will ‘convert’ audiences away from piracy sites back to legal retail areas.

MUSO’s prototype is now in the final stages of development, with a UK-wide trial set to begin with a selected group of MUSO’s existing clients next April.

The Technology Strategy Board’s Smart programme is designed to offer co-funding to UK-based start-ups and small firms to carry out science, engineering and tech projects which could lead to innovation within the sector.

Applications for the programme are always open and companies can receive grants to prove market viability, explore technical feasibility or develop prototypes.

Christopher Elkins, co-founder and head of film services at MUSO, said: “Securing this development grant from the TSB is fantastic independent endorsement of the strength of our technology and future developments we are making in the anti-piracy solutions market.

“The grant award gives our R&D team an extremely robust financial position from which to develop this ambitious and forward-thinking product, to the benefit of the UK tech sector, and rights holders looking for new ways to further drive the online growth of great content.”