Blackbird PLC (AIM:BIRD, OTCQX:BBRDF), the cloud-based video editing platform operator, raised approximately £8mln via a placing at 28p a pop.
The placing represents around 7.8% of the enlarged issued share capital of the company.
It intends to use the funds to develop the company's technology offering in new markets, increase staffing levels, expand the company’s patent portfolio and conduct research & development.
The board believes the new markets it has identified suffer from inefficient video creation, cumbersome video distribution and low monetisation. These are all issues the board believes it can address through further development of the “Powered by Blackbird” intellectual property.
Blackbird’s chief executive officer, Ian McDonough, said the company was excited by the opportunities offered by new markets.
"Recent contract wins for the company include Univision, Eurovision Sport and a further expansion with TownNews to 80 regional US stations," McDonough said.
"'Powered by Blackbird’ already has its first customer in our current sector focus of professional Media and Entertainment. The company has also recently been awarded ‘Best Tech Company 2021’ by the SportsPro OTT awards.
"While our reputation builds in the professional Media and Entertainment vertical, our technology has advanced through API development and the first ‘Powered by Blackbird’ licence deal has shown our applicability to companies across multiple video markets. The creator economy, enterprise video and content distribution markets are of huge scale and have attractive growth rates offering a massive opportunity built around our existing intellectual property," he added.