When the world went into lockdown in 2020, one thing surprising occurred on our screens. As the same old sitcoms and superhero reruns grew stale, many viewers started gravitating towards one thing totally different documentaries. The style, lengthy handled as a facet dish within the leisure buffet, quietly grew to become a staple.

Now, from the center of Aba in southeastern Nigeria, a metropolis as soon as recognized for fueling Nollywood’s DVD distribution increase, a brand new streaming platform is attempting to journey that wave. 

It’s known as OptimalVid, and its ambition is each targeted and daring: to construct a house purely for documentaries and nonfiction storytelling. Assume Netflix, however with out the romcoms and reboots.

The platform is rolling out this month with a lean however disruptive mannequin. At simply $2 per 30 days, customers can stream a rising library of documentaries, and right here’s the twist: they’ll pause their subscriptions. 

Life will get unpredictable, particularly in economies like Nigeria’s the place disposable revenue isn’t at all times constant. 

So OptimalVid lets customers freeze their plan for a couple of days at a time, as much as ten days in a 30-day cycle, making certain they solely pay for the time they really watch. It’s a small tweak, however one which exhibits the startup is listening to on a regular basis realities.

At launch, the content material lineup received’t function shiny blockbusters or buzzworthy originals. As a substitute, the platform is sourcing royalty-free and freely accessible documentaries, protecting prices low and entry broad. 

Over time, it plans to license extra compelling titles by way of world marketplaces the place content material offers are surprisingly inexpensive, generally as little as $500 for 100 titles a month.

However can a platform constructed round documentaries actually compete in in the present day’s crowded streaming jungle?

Truly, sure, if the tendencies maintain. World knowledge means that the documentary house is now not a distinct segment on the margins. Projections present the market doubling within the subsequent decade, and there’s a rising urge for food for actual tales over scripted fantasies. Folks need content material that teaches, not simply distracts. They need to learn, not simply entertained. That’s the shift OptimalVid is hoping to capitalize on.

After all, the street forward isn’t clean. Established gamers like CuriosityStream, Kanopy, and DocuBay already dominate the worldwide documentary scene. On the continent, platforms like AfriDocs present entry to high quality African and worldwide titles without cost. 

After which there are the giants, Netflix and YouTube the place documentaries are only one arm of an empire.

What OptimalVid is banking on is that its simplicity, flexibility, and affordability will attraction to a brand new wave of customers, particularly those that really feel priced out or overwhelmed by the larger platforms. 

Its long-term technique is evident: begin small, construct an viewers, elevate capital, and ultimately create or license unique titles to maintain viewers coming again. A $1.5 million seed spherical is at present within the works to fund this imaginative and prescient largely for licensing, tech infrastructure, and a small group growth.

Nonetheless, constructing from Nigeria has its hurdles. Regardless of its dimension, Nigeria’s streaming market stays small in comparison with locations like South Africa. Reaching customers past native borders can be key to survival. 

Meaning considering world from day one, similar to early African streaming pioneers who realized that wider attain typically means higher returns.

However for all of the challenges, there’s additionally one thing thrilling a few platform selecting to go deep quite than broad. Whereas others chase the following viral hit, OptimalVid is quietly betting on the ability of nonfiction to teach, encourage, and join. 

It’s a daring, barely offbeat transfer. But when there’s something we’ve realized from the streaming wars, it’s that generally the most important winners come from probably the most unlikely locations.

And perhaps, simply perhaps the way forward for documentary streaming will begin not in Silicon Valley, however in a tech lab in Aba.