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title: LBRY Announces $500K Raise to Build the First Community-Controlled YouTube Alternative
---
September 7, 2016

MANCHESTER, NH – LBRY, a community-controlled content marketplace, today announced a $500K fundraising round. The round is led by Pillar, a Boston-based venture capital firm that focuses on transformative technologies. The company will use this capital primarily to expand its staff and fund development toward a full public release of its consumer app. LBRY’s ultimate goal is for users to have access to every film, song, book, and app ever made – on any device.

LBRY’s marketplace was science-fiction material just a few short years ago. It was the emergence of Bitcoin and its blockchain technology that laid the groundwork for LBRY’s platform. Using this technology, LBRY enables fans to pay creators directly without relying on an intermediary like Apple, Amazon, or Google. People across the world are all able to use the same system to store and view content, without a single central point of control.

In the wake of the [recent controversy](http://observer.com/2016/09/youtube-phillyd-eric-schiffer/) around YouTube censoring its content creators for ad dollars, LBRY offers to fill the void with a service that, by design, responds to standards set by the community – not advertisers. With over 125,000 people on the company’s beta waitlist, there is clearly strong demand for an alternative.

LBRY was founded in 2015 by repeat entrepreneur Jeremy Kauffman, CEO. The company’s management team includes Michael Zargham, CTO, Mike Vine, Head of Marketing, and Josh Finer, COO/CFO, an MBA with deep roots in the cryptocurrency community. There are a total of 11 people on the LBRY team, and the company is headquartered in New Hampshire, with additional team members located in Philadelphia, Connecticut, New Orleans, Massachusetts, and California.
 
“We have always said that LBRY will be built no matter the financial situation,” explained co-founder Mike Vine. “This funding allows us to accelerate our efforts. The ambitions behind LBRY are grand. Any company now serving you media – whether that is a streaming subscription or pay-per-download – is vulnerable to a market that connects creators to fans without taking a cut. The essence of entrepreneurship is finding a way to deliver greater quality at a lower price than anything that exists. We’ve found a way.”
 
**About LBRY**

LBRY is a content-sharing and publishing platform that is decentralized and controlled by its users. It allows content creators to post their works to the hosting network, set their price per view/download, and collect payment. LBRY is an open-source protocol, as opposed to a centralized service, so there is no entity to take a “cut” of transactions or change the terms in an attempt to monetize the product. It’s like a new extension of the internet for delivering all media – films, ebooks, songs, and apps – from creators directly to consumers with radical efficiency. 

**About Pillar**

Pillar invests in exceptional entrepreneurs pursuing transformative technologies that leverage machine intelligence. Founded in 2016, the firm partners with entrepreneurs by providing access to critical resources companies need to scale, including enterprise relationships, PR/marketing, talent and leadership development. Pillar is headquartered in Boston. For more information, please visit [www.pillar.vc](http://pillar.vc/). 

**Contact:**
Mike Vine, Evangelist, [mike@lbry.io](mailto:mike@lbry.io), 888-723-7679

**Press Kit:** [http://www.lbry.io/press-kit](http://www.lbry.io/press-kit)
