Cinema8 offers a flexible video platform that enables businesses to create smarter, more engaging content. Its technology allows viewers to interact with videos in real time – choosing what to see next, answering questions, and clicking on on-screen elements. This helps businesses boost engagement, personalise experiences and gather valuable insights when training staff, hosting product explainers, running immersive marketing campaigns, and much more.

Alisan Erdemli, Co-Founder and CEO of Cinema8, says: “Our goal is to make every video more immersive, more intelligent and more aligned with what people want to see and do. By giving viewers the ability to shape their own experience, we turn video into something interactive, measurable and far more engaging.”

Brand evolution, funding access and IP strategy

Cinema8 began its Innovate UK journey in April 2022, securing a £400,000 grant to support the development of AI-powered features that let users interact with moving objects in real time. Two of these AI-powered interactive features include “sticky hotspots”, which follow on-screen motion and adaptive content layers that respond to individual viewer preferences across desktop, mobile and virtual reality (VR).

Following an introduction from the Cambridge and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) Growth Hub, Cinema8 began working with Innovate UK Business Growth in June 2023. Innovation and Growth Specialist, Richard Carey-Evans, worked closely with the business to co-develop a tailored action plan focused on innovation management, investment readiness and internationalisation.

With support that included strategic guidance on relocation, regional networks and market access, the company made the decision to move its headquarters from London to Cambridge – a relocation that has helped Cinema8 scale operations, access new markets and embed itself within the UK innovation economy.

Richard facilitated introductions to regional stakeholders, innovation hubs and creative networks, which helped Cinema8 land in Cambridge quickly and gain local visibility. Within 18 months, the company was shortlisted for Startup of the Year at the 2025 Cambridge Business Awards.

Alisan explains: “From the earliest days, our innovation and growth specialist has been a calm and constant guide. Whether helping us navigate Innovate UK or settle into a new city, Richard always made time and knew who to bring in.”

To build on this support, Cinema8 joined Design for Growth – an Innovate UK Business Growth initiative that helps innovative businesses embed design thinking into their strategy, covering areas like branding, product design, customer insight and creative direction. Through hands-on mentorship from an expert in design thinking, the business was able to articulate its needs for and ultimately commission a project for a new logo, visual system and brand story that reflected its shift from enterprise-only to global tech platform.

Alisan adds: “Beyond the design outputs, Design for Growth had a transformative impact on our internal team. It gave our technical leads a better understanding of design thinking and empowered us to communicate our product value more effectively.”

Support to access funding

To prepare for investment, Cinema8 also participated in Innovate UK Business Growth’s Invest-Ability Intensive Training in early 2024 – a targeted initiative designed to help innovation-led companies understand the fundraising process, refine their pitch and build investor confidence. This upskilled the team on the fundraising process and helped the company build a credible pitch and understand the investment journey.

Cinema8 also secured a £10,000 grant from Growth Works – a CPCA initiative aimed at accelerating business growth in the region – to bring in consultancy support for building its UK sales strategy. This was followed by a further £30,000 grant through the Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Create Growth Programme, which supports creative businesses in scaling innovation-led products and services. The funding is helping Cinema8 continue developing its AI technology and expand its commercial reach.

An IP Audit, provided by the Intellectual Property Office (IPO) and available to Innovate UK Business Growth clients, enabled the company to identify and protect its most valuable intangible assets. This has strengthened its commercial strategy and informed how it approaches platform development and partnerships.

International ambition backed by insight and networks

Cinema8 also received £21,000 through Innovate UK’s Global Explorers to support US market entry. The funding helped the company validate its value proposition overseas and identify the right partners to scale in North America.

The company also recently signed a major contract with a Swiss luxury fashion group to deliver interactive safety training content – marking growing international demand for its video platform.

Alisan concludes: “Richard has been our startup sherpa on speed dial – steady, insightful and brilliantly connected. Whether it was untangling grants, building networks or just figuring out where to begin, Richard made the whole thing feel a lot less daunting.”

Cinema8 is now rolling out a new self-serve product that makes smarter video hosting with interactivity and deep analytics accessible to businesses of all sizes. Within the first two months of launch, the platform onboarded more than 1,000 new users.

Video innovation helping to drive UK productivity

Cinema8’s interactive video platform is helping UK businesses – especially startups and SMEs – to create more effective marketing, training and engagement strategies. By turning content into clickable, trackable and personalised experiences, the platform helps companies generate leads, gather insights and grow more efficiently.

Through bespoke business growth support from Innovate UK, Cinema8 has secured more than £450,000 in grant funding, launched a rebrand, created two new roles and established itself as a digital and creative industry leader in the East of England. With a self-serve product now live and international demand building, the company is well placed to scale.

[IGS] Richard has been our startup sherpa on speed dial – steady, insightful and brilliantly connected. Whether it was untangling grants, building networks or just figuring out where to begin, Richard made the whole thing feel a lot less daunting.

– Alisan Erdemli, Co-Founder and CEO of Cinema8