Struum

Struum emerged in April 2020 as a venture aiming to aggregate niche streaming services under a single subscription. The company was founded by a team of former executives from Disney and Discovery: Lauren DeVillier, who served as CEO, Eugene Liew, Paul Pastor, and Thomas Wadsworth. Their collective background in product development, strategy, and technology at major media corporations shaped Struum's approach to tackling the increasingly fragmented streaming market.

The business operated on a credit-based model, inspired by ClassPass, where a monthly fee of $4.99 provided users with credits to sample and watch content from a variety of smaller, specialized streaming partners. This model was intended to solve consumer frustration with managing multiple subscriptions while providing a discovery and acquisition channel for over 50 content partners, including BBC Select, Magellan TV, and Indieflix. Revenue was generated from these subscriptions, which was then shared with the content providers.

Struum secured initial multi-million-dollar backing from former Disney CEO Michael Eisner's Tornante Company and later raised $7 million in a Series A round in November 2021, led by Corus Entertainment. The platform launched its preview product in the U.S. in May 2021 on iOS and later expanded to other devices like Android, Roku, and Apple TV. Despite ambitious plans for international expansion into Canada, the service failed to gain significant consumer traction. By early 2022, the company was facing cash flow issues, and by June, it had run out of money. After attempts to find a buyer were unsuccessful, Struum quietly ceased operations in February 2023.

Keywords: streaming aggregation, credit-based subscription, video on demand, content discovery, SVOD, media technology, niche streaming, OTT platform, entertainment media, defunct startup