Beem · The Web3 Video Ecosystem bringing the creators into the Open Metaverse ✨
The community IS the platform. Beem offers creators and their communities the most advanced video and NFT tools in one place to create new content and experiences, own and monetize their craft, and make the jump into the Open Metaverse
Entering the ownership economy
The most recent study on the creator’s economy shows the stark reality of those who we watch, like, and follow on social media:
- 93% say that being a creator has negatively impacted their lives
- 65% feel overworked and/or underpaid
- 89% are interested in a new, radical way of building a business as a creator
As a result, a new wave of creators is emerging, with a clear roadmap towards independence, creating the premises of the ownership economy:
- Transform the audience they currently rent from the major social media platforms into real communities with direct and un-intermediated relationships
- Use those social media platforms to funnel new followers into an “owned and operated” space under the creator’s full control and ownership
- Earn money directly from their community and most loyal fans
- Choose a set of nascent tools and technologies that bring fragmented features together in “all-in-one” ecosystems that combine community, content, and direct monetization — the first step towards regaining the benefits of their communities’ network effects
- Experiment with blockchain technologies, and NFTs in particular (Non-Fungible Tokens, unique digital assets representing certificates of ownership or access to specific items). Crypto’s central tenet is “power to the people”, which is shared by independent creators looking to create collectivized and community-centric ecosystems
Beem has developed a set of video and community management tools that are aligned since inception with the aspirations and needs of independent creators. We started working on these challenges in early 2018 (stealth name: Unchained, check out our whitepaper) based on the principle that NFTs will power Web3, the next evolution of the digital economy, thanks to tokenized content ownership, decentralized intellectual property rights management, programmatic royalties and digital collectibles.
We knew that the video space was the most promising and we set our aim at creating a complete blockchain-based video infrastructure for creators and their communities. We soon realized that we were too early in the game and the Web3 technologies were not yet ready for mass-market deployment and adoption. We focused our efforts on building the most challenging part: a scalable high-performance, low-latency video stack. We created it, launched it, and market-proved it. Creators and audiences alike loved it!
Moving forward, we are now creating a seamless interface between the performance and usability of Web2 and the Web3 tools and models that will allow the ownership economy to flourish. We believe NFTs can solve most of the shortfalls of digital media, content ownership, and monetization. That’s why in the next 12 months we will be deploying NFT smart contracts at the core of our system to unlock a whole set of new features to empower creators:
- Token-gating (only people with a specific asset in their wallet are able to access an event or a video), fan subscriptions, and digital collectibles
- Tools that allow fans to become genuine stakeholders of a creator’s work by collaborating in the creative process and contributing time and money, but also access exclusive events, unlock premium content and private gatherings with the creator, and get voting rights on the project’s direction (VeeFriends is an example)
- Intellectual property and royalty management of the creator’s content
- Features to automatically split ownership, revenues, and royalties between different participants of the community, opening the door to media Distributed Autonomous Organizations (DAOs).
We started on the Ethereum blockchain, but we believe in a multi-chain future and are already integrating other chains and Layer 2s. By allowing creators to mint NFTs with the metadata stored on decentralized storage like IPFS and Arweave, the content (media + metadata) is interoperable and doesn’t depend on a centralized infrastructure. Creators are in full control of their content and can use it on Beem or on any compatible open ecosystem.
Loved by creators, cheered by their community
Since our beta launch in October 2020, creators have used Beem to host live concerts, podcast recordings, interactive workshops, film premieres, festivals with live Q&As, and engaging fundraisers. Beem has provided a unique stage for thousands of public and private events, with tens of thousands of user registrations, and dozens of thousands USD raised for nonprofits and cultural projects. We gained invaluable feedback from both our creators and their communities.
We confirmed a core assumption of our product: after experiencing a unified toolkit like Beem, creators don’t plan to go back to the messy patchwork of Zoom, YouTube Live, Vimeo, Streamyard, Eventbrite, Mailchimp, Patreon, and the dozen other tools they currently use to grow their business, connect with their communities and monetize their content.
On Beem, creators can upload their content, distribute it easily for free or for a fee, and create interactive live events with their content in a few clicks with full ticketing management. They can invite guests and fans on stage and interact seamlessly with their communities via live video and chat. Participants can join from any device (desktop browser, iOS and Android apps) and easily cast the show to their TV through Airplay or Chromecast. Creators can also stream their event to the major social media platforms such as YouTube Live, Twitch, or Facebook Live to reach the largest audience possible and funnel it into their own space on Beem for more interaction and greater monetization. The content created during these live events is recorded and then available to be replayed.
Our white-label solution Beem Pro for established creators and businesses is fully customizable with the URL, identity, branding, content, and events. Pro users can set up, operate and own their space. They have the tools to directly manage their community, access the analytics about their live events, content distribution, and revenues while maintaining full ownership of their content and data.
The video stack of the Open Metaverse
We are bullish on the Open Metaverse becoming the next major evolution of our digital lives, societies, and economies.
In 2021 NFTs went mainstream as more and more people and large corporations understand their use and huge potential. Indeed, NFTs can carry multiple characteristics and underlying values: more or less exclusive characters (Bored Apes, Cool Cats, etc.), virtual real estate (in SandBox maybe next to SnoopDogg’s mansion — owned by himself), a piece of generative art (Art Blocks collections) or a music album (Daniel Allan is paying back 50% of his royalties to token holders who funded his EP). NFTs become (part of) our online identity and signal our passion and emotional attachment while allowing us to join a community we care about. “Come for the assets, stay for the experience”, as Fred Wilson recently put it.
Blockchains are the fabric of the Open Metaverse and NFTs are the building blocks. The Open Metaverse can be described as an evolving collection of highly composable technologies and transferable assets across projects and platforms, guided by a set of principles and frameworks, where digital assets and identities are interconnected, fluid and interoperable. Enhanced visualization (virtual worlds, AR, VR), gamification (open games, play-to-earn), content & personal brand creation and ownership, decentralization (democratized and permissionless playfield), and the financial instruments of DeFi (decentralized finance) all converge into this Open Metaverse.
We are committed to making any asset created on Beem accessible in any other on-chain “world” within the Open Metaverse. Conversely, any asset from other worlds (avatars, in-game goods, or anything that can be tied to an NFT) could soon be brought inside Beem. Anyone will be able to showcase their NFTs on stage, use them as their avatar or 3D model on camera, in the chat, and in their profile, and maintain their Metaverse identities inside their virtual communities.
We believe Beem will become a powerful on-ramp to seamlessly and massively onboard communities, content and assets from Web2 into the Open Metaverse.
Take ownership of Beem
Now the best part: we want you to be part of our journey towards becoming the most vibrant Web3 video ecosystem. Our objective is to raise $10M in the coming year to execute on our bold vision. On top of VCs, it is of paramount importance for us to give you, our early community, the ability to invest and get your fair share of Beem’s success. Likewise, we’ve reserved equity to reward Beem’s most committed creators. It’s time for creators to become stakeholders in their means of production! If we are to make Beem a huge success, we want this success to be shared.
“The ownership economy is the idea that in the future, all platforms will be built, operated, and owned by their users. Imagine being rewarded with tokens for using a platform, proportional to usage or value driven.”
For that reason, we’ve launched a rolling SAFE, available today on invest.watchbeem.com. It behaves like a traditional SAFE (Simple Agreement for Future Equity — a model pioneered by Y Combinator), except that it’s continuous, i.e. there are no rounds happening every now and then reserved for a select few. Indeed, we wanted our rolling SAFE to be as inclusive and fair as possible:
- Inclusive: our rolling SAFE never closes, it is literally always open for investment. You can invest today, tomorrow, in a few months or next year
- Fair: the earlier you invest, the more attractive valuation you’ll secure. To reward earlier investors, the valuation of our rolling SAFE increases as we raise more money
If you want to be part of the greatest journey to reinvent video creation, distribution and monetization for Web3, don’t delay: join us today.
Investments can be made through bank transfers, as well as in crypto (BTC, ETH, USDC). All the documents can be accessed and signed online, so in 10 min you can become an investor in Beem. Additionally, you have full visibility in real-time of the value of the company, how much was raised to date, and from how many investors.
More information about the team, the company, the market and our business model can be found on our investment portal. Participation in Beem comes with full transparency: we’re building in public, and anyone can take part in our daily discussions, get a first peek at our new features or inspire future ones, or discuss partnership opportunities with us. Get in touch by joining us on our Discord: 👉 watchbeem.com/discord
Also, we’re hiring 👋
