Streamlytics

Streamlytics, founded by serial entrepreneur Angela Benton in 2018, operated as a data technology company focused on ethically sourcing consumer media consumption data. Benton, a prominent figure in making the technology industry more inclusive, previously founded NewME, the first startup accelerator for minorities, which helped raise over $47 million in venture capital for underrepresented entrepreneurs. Her journey into technology began as a self-taught coder, which led her through roles as a designer and digital strategist, where she often found herself as the only woman and person of color in the room. This experience fueled her passion to create platforms that provide more equitable opportunities, leading to the creation of Streamlytics.

The company's business model centered on a consumer-to-business data transaction framework. It provided applications for users to upload their data from various streaming services and other platforms like Apple and Uber. In return, Streamlytics compensated these users, whom they termed "data partners," for their information, thereby allowing consumers to monetize their own digital footprint. The company would then strip the data of any personally identifiable information, enhance it, and package it for sale. The primary clients were enterprise-level companies, including brand marketers and studios, seeking richer, more diverse datasets to inform their strategies in marketing, product development, and artificial intelligence. Streamlytics offered this anonymized, aggregated data through annual subscriptions, with costs ranging from $550,000 to $1.2 million for large enterprises. The company's key differentiator was its focus on data equity, specifically aiming to provide insights that better reflected the media consumption habits of communities of color, a demographic often underrepresented in conventional datasets.

A core component of Streamlytics' offering was the concept of data ownership. When users shared their data, the company issued a "Data License," contractually establishing the user as the owner of that data. Furthermore, Streamlytics developed a proprietary data standard called the Universal Data Interchange Format (UDIF), designed to make consumer data more portable. Throughout its operation, the company processed billions of data points and garnered support from investors like Fearless Fund and actress Issa Rae. Despite its efforts and raising approximately $3.69 million, public records indicate the company ceased operations in early 2024.

Keywords: ethical data, consumer data monetization, first-party data, media consumption analytics, data equity, Angela Benton, data ownership, streaming analytics, Universal Data Interchange Format, consumer insights, marketing data, product intelligence, AI training data, minority consumer data, data licensing, data privacy, audience measurement, cross-platform data, data-driven marketing, consumer-to-business data