Pex Raises $57 Million for Digital Attribution Engine

Pexeso Inc., doing business as Pex, announced Feb. 16 that it had raised $57 million in a funding round that will allow the company to scale up its digital video and audio licensing engine.

The downtown-based company was founded in 2014 and has developed a registry of video and audio assets called the Attribution Engine, which allows rights holders to specify exactly how individual pieces of content can be shared and repurposed online. 

The engine then scans social media and streaming sites for content contained in its asset inventory and facilitates licensing agreements between content creators, rights holders and streaming platforms hosting the content. 

Chief Executive Rasty Turek said in a statement that the engine is designed to replace "crude upload filters with radically simple licensing” with a system that “respects individual rights while creating greater and safer access to content" for all users. 

“I believe we can make attribution the norm online, and we can do it with the speed, ease and scale that today’s volume of content demands,” said Turek. 

Last year, Pex acquired San Francisco-based Dubset Media Holdings Inc., the developer of a similar digital rights tool that identifies audio assets and samples in songs hosted on streaming platforms. Turek said the move bolstered Pex’s rights management team and built upon its relationships with major music industry players. 

The company’s approach to digital asset licensing has helped it raise money from multiple media giants. Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group are both early investors. 

Pex also said Chinese internet services conglomerate Tencent Holdings and its subsidiary Tencent Music Entertainment Group participated in the company’s latest round of funding. 

The company did not specify what the new funding would be used for, but Turek said it brought Pex closer to its “original vision” for a comprehensive digital attribution system. The company has now raised a total of $72 million, according to PitchBook Data Inc. 

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