A delightful treat for movie buffs 'My passion for movies and hunger to share this passion with our target audience led me to develop the idea of Muvizz.com'.

Trimming the gap of time between releases of movie and viewing it across the world, Muvizz.com, online Video streaming platform is facilitating instant movies to the viewers in India and across the world. While revealing the strategies of the company, Abhayanand Singh, Founder of the company spoke to Entrepreneur Media.

What inspired you to venture into digital market?

I have always been a movie enthusiast and my passion for movies was what led me to start Muvizz.com. What inspired me to start Muvizz? It was the waiting time in Singapore to watch a movie like Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). For someone like me who grew up with such a passion for movies, a six-month wait to watch the masterpiece was too long a period. My passion for movies and hunger to share this passion with our target audience led me to develop the idea of Muvizz.com. This venture is my way to contribute to the film industry.

How much investment have you done? What were the sources of funding?

I have personally invested close to Rs 45 Lacs into the business after which I got a co-founder who invested an equal amount of money. We have successfully raised Rs 2.2 crore ($350,000) in angel funding from three Singapore-based investors. The investors are Ashish Todi, MD at Frost Global Pte Ltd; Abhinav Patodia, Director at Navtech; and Kumar Shwetabh, CEO at Pacific Global Inc. This funding will help Muvizz.com in acquiring more titles from all over the world. It's basically a 2-3 years agreement with investors, though it is deal specific.

In which area of digital market do you provide services?

Our services in the digital market are for video on demand and online streaming of movies. Currently in India, video on demand services are dominated by YouTube with over 55 million unique users visiting YouTube per month. Hence, we entered this digital market knowing that video on demand service, especially for independent and classic cinema had little or no competition.

The growth in Video on Demand, especially in developed markets has been quick and seamless, but India remains an untapped VOD market. Our venture Muvizz is a platform offering the best of movie content to cinema lovers around the world. We offer an exclusive list of curated titles ranging from short films to documentaries and feature films in various languages for our users. Viewers can choose from multiple options as to what kind of content they want to watch.

Tell us about your business revenue model.

Muvizz.com is a Video Streaming Platform that allows consumers to view content instantly through internet connected devices such as; laptops/PC, internet connected televisions, console/over-the-top box connected TV's, tablets and smart phones.

There are three revenue models that we follow.

• Pay per view model, wherein the viewer's pay for each individual video on demand program.
• Subscription video on demand - It allows viewers to access content with a certain monthly fees chanrged. In return they can choose from the wide variety of titles the platform offers.
• Advertisement-supported VOD model wherein our content is accessible to the viewers for free, however there are commercial breaks included in the videos for brand promotions. For paid services, there's a 50 percent split of revenues between Muvizz and the content provider.

How is been the journey so far?

The response for our venture has been overwhelming. Though, Muvizz.com is a 5 month old venture but the idea for it has been on my mind for a long time. To set up the venture the support that I got from my team and family was immense.

In terms of industry, we got outstanding backing from everyone we approached, especially prominent personality from the film industries such as ShabanaAzmi, Vishal Bharadwaj, Anurag Kashyap, Sudhir Mishra, KetanMehta, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Hansal Mehta, Nawazuddin, Rajkumar Rao, Nitin Kakkar, Sharib Hashmi, etc.

What is your expansion plan? What are the key areas you are focusing?

We have a lot of traction on the website and we hope to receive continued consumer base. Currently, we have our focus set on broadening and attracting more viewers to our platform. Currently, Muvizz caters to around 300 titles. In the next phase of expansion we are also looking at acquiring new titles and bringing in more movie content across various genres in our library. We also want to expand the user base globally, first to the Indian diaspora and then to non-Indians with a differentiated catalogue.

How did you fix the deal with your first client? In other words how did you acquire your firstcontent?

It took us quite sometime to refine our offering, but once we did so, we knew what to communicate to our Content Partners. Since, one of the cofounder had already spent close to a decade in media, it was not very difficult to approach some and get our first content.

In future, are there any plans to sell your company?

It's too early to think on those lines. Currently, we are focused on creating value in the company. Once we have successfully done so, we will start thinking on our next steps.

What is your opinion on increasing startup companies in India?

The Indian startup ecosystem has really taken off and has become a popular choice in recent times for budding entrepreneurs. Innovative ideas, unconventional business models and due support from the investors has created a favorable market for emerging startups in the country.

It gives me immense pride that India has such potential and exclusive talent available to step up in the global markets. I have always been confident that the startup industry can make a significant growth in the country's economy. In the coming times we can look forward to some outstanding ideas and setting entrepreneurial trend.