Beemi Raises $1M to Scale Ethiopia’s First Gamified Livestreaming Platform Across Africa

Beemi, Ethiopia’s first gamified livestreaming platform designed to transform traditional livestreams into interactive experiences and real-time storefronts, has raised $1 million in seed funding.

The investment round was led by Antler and Vibe Capital, with participation from Renew Capital, NaiBAN, angel investor Nicholas Talarico, and other strategic investors active in the gaming and creator economy sectors. 

Co-founded by Dawit Abraham, and Samuel Sisay, the duo behind Qene Games  Beemi enables streamers on TikTok, YouTube, and Twitch to integrate real-time games, quizzes, polls, and audience controls, turning viewers into participants. 

In addition to interactive livestreamable games, Beemi offers two core features: the Beemi Marketplace, where independent developers can publish interactive games and experiences for creators to use instantly in their streams; and the Beemi Shop, a gamified live e-commerce layer that allows viewers to purchase merchandise, digital collectibles, and in-stream power-ups directly within the broadcast

“What’s drawing investor interest is the Beemi Marketplace, where developers can launch interactive content for creators to use instantly in their livestreams,” said Dawit Abraham, CEO and Co-founder. 

The co-founder says the model has already begun delivering results from all over the world. “Streamers using Beemi in cities like Addis Ababa, Nairobi, Cape Town, Toronto, and London are seeing five times longer average watch times and ten times more engagement compared to standard livestream formats,” he told Shega.

The freshly secured seed funding will be directed toward scaling Beemi’s engineering and creator partnership teams, expanding the content library in the Marketplace, and launching new verticals. According to Bereket Lakew, Chief Marketing Officer of the platform, these will include interactive educational streams, tools tailored for knowledge creators, and live-selling features for streamers promoting both physical and digital products. 

The round marks a notable follow-up to Beemi’s earlier pre-seed backing by Antler and Vibe Capital and comes after more than a year of iterative product development and real-world pilots. 

Beemi’s success contours a similar trend across global media as live streaming emerges as a powerful force blending entertainment, monetization, and real-time interaction into one endlessly scrolling feed. It’s a global industry estimated by some market researchers to be valued at $247 billion by 2027.