Dial Square 86, the UK-based operator of television content rights service The Rights Exchange (TRX), has raised £5.2m ($6.7m) in a funding round featuring broadcasters Sky and Channel 4, the Telegraph has reported.
Founded in 2014, TRX is an online marketplace that trades broadcasting rights for TV and video content. Licensing deals can be closed online, with buyers and sellers negotiating prices and conditions through its DealGrid system.
TRX takes a share of between 5% and 9% on each deal agreed through the platform, said to be significantly lower than the fees charged by traditional international distributors which typically receive up to 35%. It is presently being tested with select Asian buyers.
David Abraham, CEO of Channel 4, told the Telegraph: “In post-Brexit Britain, it is even more important for the UK’s creative industries to have innovative ways of trading across the globe.
“You are still going to have the existing system for premium rights. We have not invested in this to destroy that. We have invested because of the pedigree of the people behind it and because it is an additional innovation for the market.”
The company previously raised angel funding from backers including Neil Record and Charlie Caminada.