This Livestreaming Startup Wants to Create Boutique Experiences for Music Superfans

Bernard Mendez
Bernard Mendez is an editorial intern at dot.LA. He attends UCLA, where he is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics. Mendez was previously an editor at the Daily Bruin, the student newspaper at UCLA.
Tame Impala

Moment House is a livestreaming platform that's gained traction building an audience among music fans, but CEO and co-founder Arjun Mehta doesn't see it as just another livestreaming platform.

Like the name suggests, Mehta is trying to mold the platform to create "moments" for creators and their megafans.


The platform's interactive features allow viewers to chat with performers and other fans live. And it's got some big name creators onboard, including rock band Tame Impala, Youtube star KSI and Tiny Meat Gang podcast hosts Cody Ko and Noel Miller, along with other podcasters to musicians.

"The creators that we love the most, we don't want to only receive content, we want to participate in experiences," he said. "The reason why is the same underlying psychology of why you get thrilled when your favorite artist has your city on their tour announcement, the same reason why, if you're a Christopher Nolan superfan, you want to see his next movie in theaters and not on HBO Max at home."

The Los Angeles-based startup announced Thursday that it raised $12 million in a round of Series A funding led by Forerunner Ventures.

Arjun Mehta, Shray Bansal and Nigel EgrariMoment House co-founders Arjun Mehta, Shray Bansal and Nigel Egrari

Moment House's platform allows creators to host pay-per view livestreams. The broadcasts aren't always live — some of the content is pre-recorded — but Moment House doesn't save recordings of streams and tickets can be limited in quantity, Mehta said.

Mehta declined to disclose specific details on revenue and viewership numbers, but said its highest performing streams have grossed several million dollars and peaked at hundreds of thousands of viewers.

It's targeted to fans of both small and large creators. But performances aren't always meant for everyone. The cost of entry acts and limited ticketing can act as a "filter" for the most dedicated fans, said Mehta.

"You're not gonna want this for everyone," he said. "It's only the creators you truly truly love."

The platform has features like smaller breakout chatrooms based on location or sub interest and Clubhouse-like call rooms where users can talk during streams — beyond the chatting features offered on established platforms such as Twitch or YouTube.

"When you think of a livestream, you think of literally a livestream with a text chat – not much innovation is happening," he said.

Creators can also use the platform to sell merchandise during streams. Moment House is also developing other tools to help fans connect once performances are over, though Mehta declined to comment on specifics.

The platform is so far only based on desktop. Moment House's Series A funding included UTA Ventures, IDEO, Dumb Money Capital, as well as former and current executives from Spotify, YouTube, Clubhouse and Discord.

Moment House, Mehta said, isn't trying to replace physical experiences, but rather give creators better tools to reach audiences they otherwise couldn't.

"Physical experiences are obviously amazing, we love them, we're not trying to compete with them or replace them at all," he said. "That being said, physical experiences alone are not enough."

"The problem is that fans are everywhere and creators can't go everywhere," he said. "And so the way we see it is that you need to have a hybrid approach as a creator in this modern world."

https://twitter.com/bernardhmendez
bernard@dot.la

Subscribe to our newsletter to catch every headline.

New Study Reveals Which Forces Are Driving Electric Vehicle Adoption

David Shultz

David Shultz reports on clean technology and electric vehicles, among other industries, for dot.LA. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, Outside, Nautilus and many other publications.

New Study Reveals Which Forces Are Driving Electric Vehicle Adoption
Photo by Jannes Glas on Unsplash

The state of California wants 100% of new passenger vehicles sales to be fully electric by 2035. Last year, the state hit a nation-leading 16%. That’s pretty good, but 84% is still a long way to go.

A new study, published Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, investigates which factors have been responsible for the rise in new EV sales nationally. The findings indicate that consumers are increasingly likely to choose an electric vehicle, and nearly all of the gains can be explained simply by improving technologies.

Read moreShow less

Colleen Wachob On Navigating Her Wellness Journey As An Entrepreneur

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Colleen Wachob On Navigating Her Wellness Journey As An Entrepreneur
Courtesy of Behind Her Empire

On this episode of Behind Her Empire, mindbodygreen co-founder and co-CEO Colleen Wachob shares her perspective on managing stress and navigating self-worth as an entrepreneur and the importance of celebrating the wins in your business.

Read moreShow less

Indji Systems Introduces Groundbreaking Hail Detection Technology to Protect Solar Panels and Prevent Millions in Damages

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

Indji Systems Introduces Groundbreaking Hail Detection Technology to Protect Solar Panels and Prevent Millions in Damages

Last week, Indji Systems, a Los Angeles-based software and online services company added its new hail detection technology to its Indji Watch platform. The latest addition to its platform comes at a time when insurers are requiring these sites to demonstrate mitigation strategies and protocols to prevent significant damage to its assets and solar panels.

The cloud based software that was announced in 2008 aims to equip solar industry players with capabilities to anticipate hail events and implement effective defensive measures for its sites.

Read moreShow less
RELATEDEDITOR'S PICKS
LA TECH JOBS
interchangeLA
Trending