21. TVPlayer

Founder: Adam Smith
Founded: January 2015 (launched October 2015)
Website: tvplayer.com

The way we watch TV is changing.

Instead of tuning in to broadcast TV, many of us now prefer to watch TV online with Ofcom’s 2017 report highlighting that the viewing of on-demand TV on different devices is becoming increasingly popular. For 16-24 year-olds, for instance, broadcast TV viewing has dropped by 33% on 2010.

One start-up which is moving with the times to provide a solution to our changing TV consumption habits is TVPlayer.

Launched by Adam Smith in October 2015, TVPlayer is a cloud-based TV platform (i.e. no need for a set top box) with more than 100 broadcast channels.

The first business of its kind to launch cloud-based recording of live TV, the start-up has rapidly become the fastest growing paid TV service in the country. In fact, Smith tells us the business is adding more net subscribers per quarter than Sky, BT, Virgin or TalkTalk.

Unlike competitors that have since entered the market, TVPlayer differentiates itself through content agreements it holds with the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5.

It also has a huge customer base, particularly among the millennial audience, with 11 million desktop users and four million app downloads in the UK to date.

Having secured £7.5m investment from A+E networks – the parent company behind Disney & Hearst – Smith’s end-goal is to see TVPlayer become the TV platform for millennials. The business is certainly one to watch.