iWorld
Laminar raises $5 million seed funding from investors
MUMBAI: The platform as a service (PaaS) Laminar that enables content owners to launch OTT services raised $5.11 million led by Artha India Ventures (AIV) and Leo Capital. Garuda Ventures, Cloudcap, and Sampson Acquisitions also participated in the round. This raise will accelerate product development and market expansion.
Founded in 2020 by Narendra Nag, Raheel Khursheed, Tirthraj Singh, Kumar Shorav, and Yin Shanyang, the London-based company enables content owners to launch a global OTT service in 12-weeks or less. It takes over the heavy lifting of creating back-end technologies from OTT players so that they can focus on their core business of content creation. Media companies get the ability to customise and launch apps across all classes of devices, set up multiple types of monetization options, meet all tax and compliance requirements, and get a complete data and analytics suite at zero capex. It enabled Chaupal, a leading multi-regional OTT platform from India, to launch in 110 countries in 12 weeks, four times faster than the average industry timeframe.
With an anticipated CAGR of 20 per cent, OTT has entered the mainstream space but needs to outsource the making of complex technologies to over 30 service providers. Laminar allows brands to launch a globally compliant streaming service through its fully managed PaaS offering; all offered under one roof. Moreover, Laminar is solving the pressing domain challenges such as heavy capital investment and set-up costs by providing services on a “pay-as-you-grow” model rather than incurring large upfront capex. Laminar’s current clientele includes Chaupal TV, planet entertainment, and streaming faith brands across two continents.
Laminar co-founder, CEO Narendra Nag said, “Laminar will immensely benefit from the collective experience of our investors in rapidly scaling our business and expanding our global footprint. In Nielsen’s recent ‘State of Play’ report the number of people subscribing to four or more services has more than doubled in the US — this is a secular trend around the world. Such growth will only accelerate as consumers coalesce around (and pay for) content that speaks to their cultural reality.”
Artha India Ventures director Anirudh A Damani said, “This is our 1st significant investment in Europe, and we are glad that it is in Laminar. Laminar gives content creators the backbone to challenge the duopoly of Netflix & Amazon Prime by building the world’s first zero code cloud-based PaaS offering. We were pleasantly surprised by the width of their client base that needs Laminar to solve their pressing issue. Because they let OTT content providers focus on their core business – creating content!
“Moreover, we see immense potential in the OTT-enabler ecosystem and are glad that we backed the best team for a PaaS offering in the segment.”
Leo Capital founding partner Rajul Garg said, “Media companies can see content consumption rapidly shifting away from cable, satellite, and DTH worldwide. Laminar has timed this industry transition beautifully with a product that is ready today for media companies who don’t want to spend time and money re-inventing the wheel, and we are excited to partner with them to help create the next global leader in the media-tech space.”
Laminar has a presence in London, Toronto, Wroclaw, Dubai, New Delhi, and Singapore. It has an engineering team based out of Wroclaw and Barcelona.
iWorld
Why Peaky Blinders is one of television’s biggest hits that still deserves more attention
Six seasons, multiple awards and the release of Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man bring the Shelby saga back into the spotlight
In the crowded universe of streaming content, only a handful of shows manage to leave a lasting cultural footprint. Peaky Blinders is overwhelmingly considered one of the biggest global hits of the past decade. Yet many viewers still haven’t fully explored the dark, gripping world of the Shelby family.
Originally produced for the UK’s BBC and later finding a massive global audience through Netflix, the series quietly grew from a British period drama into a worldwide streaming phenomenon.
Created by Steven Knight, the show follows the rise of the Shelby crime family in post-First World War Birmingham. What begins as a gritty street-gang story gradually expands into a sweeping narrative about ambition, politics, power and survival.
At the centre of the saga is Thomas Shelby, portrayed with extraordinary depth by Cillian Murphy. The casting of Murphy is widely regarded as perfect for the role. With piercing eyes, restrained dialogue and an almost hypnotic screen presence, he transforms Shelby into one of the most unforgettable characters in modern screen storytelling.
Murphy’s brilliance lies in his restraint. He rarely shouts or performs theatrically. Instead, a quiet stare, a calculated pause or a subtle shift in expression conveys the emotional storms within the character. Beneath the ruthless gang leader is a war veteran carrying trauma, guilt and loneliness. Murphy captures this complexity with remarkable precision, making Thomas Shelby both terrifying and deeply human.
Beyond its central performance, Peaky Blinders stands out for its unfiltered portrayal of reality. The show does not romanticise crime. Instead, it exposes the harsh social conditions of early 20th-century Britain, from poverty and class struggle to political extremism and the psychological scars left by war.
The series also presents powerful female characters who hold their own within the Shelby empire. Polly Gray, played by Helen McCrory, is the strategic backbone of the family and one of the most formidable figures in the story. Women in the series shape decisions, influence power structures and challenge the rigid social norms of the time.
Across six seasons, the narrative grows dramatically in scale. What begins in the smoky streets of Birmingham evolves into a story involving political conspiracies, fascism and international criminal networks.
The series has also earned significant critical acclaim. It won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Drama Series in 2018 and multiple National Television Awards for Best Drama, cementing its reputation as one of Britain’s most celebrated modern shows.
Another defining feature of the series is its iconic music. The show’s opening theme, Red Right Hand by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, became instantly recognisable and widely associated with the Shelby universe. Combined with a powerful soundtrack featuring artists such as Arctic Monkeys and Radiohead, the music helped shape the show’s dark, stylish identity and became hugely popular among fans.
And the Shelby story is not over yet.
In fact, its legacy is unfolding right now. The long-awaited feature-length continuation, Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man, was released on March 6, 2026, bringing the Shelby universe from streaming screens to cinemas and giving fans a new chapter in the saga.
For viewers who have not yet stepped into this world, the timing could not be better.
Six gripping seasons are ready to binge on Netflix. A new film has just arrived in theatres. And at the heart of it all stands one of the most magnetic performances in modern drama by Cillian Murphy.
So if Peaky Blinders has been sitting on your watchlist for years, this weekend is your moment.
So, by order of the Peaky fookin’ Blinders, consider this your cue to finally step into the ruthless world of Thomas Shelby. Pour yourself a drink, clear your schedule and press the play button. Because when the Peaky Blinders give an order, you listen.
