Shade
Shade provides a cloud-native media storage and management platform (ShadeFS) that unifies intelligent file streaming, AI-powered search, review/approval, and archiving for creative teams across sports, film & TV, agencies, and post-production.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2024
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Shade does
Shade is a New York-based, venture-backed company that has built a cloud-native media storage and management platform for creative teams. Its core technology, ShadeFS, is a virtual file system that combines intelligent byte-level part-file streaming, AI-powered search (facial recognition, natural language, transcription, automated metadata), and a native review/approval suite. The product is positioned as a single replacement for fragmented tool stacks such as LucidLink, Frame.io, Dropbox, and Iconik, targeting verticals including sports media, creative agencies, film & TV production, post-production studios, commercial photography, real estate, consumer brands, podcasts, live events, and houses of worship. Desktop applications are available for macOS, Windows, and Linux, with a web app and self-serve onboarding.
Shade monetizes via a per-seat SaaS subscription model. The self-serve Growth tier is priced at $29.75 per seat per month on annual billing ($35 monthly) and includes 500 GB of active storage per seat, unlimited AI indexing, and support for up to 15 seats. The Enterprise tier is custom-priced, offering unlimited seats/workspaces, 1 TB per seat, SSO/SAML and SCIM, dedicated account management, custom SLA, and workflow optimization services, with add-on storage and BYOS S3 options. The company runs a hybrid product-led growth and enterprise field sales motion, supported by an active academy, content marketing, and major industry events such as the NAB Show.
Founded by Brandon Fan (CEO) and Emerson Dove (CTO/co-founder), Shade has raised $20 million in total funding, including a $14 million Series round in March 2026 led by Khosla Ventures and Construct Capital with Bling Capital participation. The company has reported 100,000+ users and 60+ million assets ingested within roughly a year of its public launch, holds SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, HIPAA, GDPR, and TPN certifications, and won the 2026 NAB Show Product of the Year in Cloud Computing and Storage.
Shade firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Shade
- Legal name
- Shade Inc.
- Website
- https://shade.inc
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2024
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Shade provides a cloud-native media storage and management platform (ShadeFS) that unifies intelligent file streaming, AI-powered search, review/approval, and archiving for creative teams across sports, film & TV, agencies, and post-production.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Shade industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Media Asset Management and Creative Collaboration Software
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud Editing & Finishing Platforms (NLE in cloud, conform, color) (MPAHANAA)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Cloud Rendering & Compute for Post/VFX/Animation (render farms, burst compute) (MPAHANAF), Cloud Storage Gateways & Hybrid Storage (HDABAEAI)
Keywords
Where Shade is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Shade business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription - SaaS Platform: Shade operates on a subscription-based SaaS model with per-seat pricing. The Growth tier is priced at $29.75/seat/month on annual billing or $35/seat/month for monthly billing. Enterprise pricing is custom with unlimited seats and additional services. Revenue is generated through recurring subscription fees with upsell opportunities to enterprise tier.
- Storage Add-ons: Additional storage beyond the included allocation can be purchased as add-ons. Growth tier includes 500GB active storage per seat, Enterprise includes 1TB per seat, with BYOS S3 options and additional storage purchasable.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Per seat | Monthly | Growth - For small teams and professionals |
| Subscription | Annual | Enterprise - For large organizations |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Shade product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Shade provides a unified cloud-based media storage and management platform built on its proprietary ShadeFS virtual file system, delivering intelligent part-file streaming, AI-powered search and metadata tagging, native review and approval, branded client delivery, and intelligent archival storage. The platform is designed for creative and media teams to consolidate fragmented tools (storage, asset management, review, archiving) into a single subscription SaaS offering available via desktop apps and a web application.
Product overview
Shade is a unified cloud-based media storage and management platform that consolidates file storage, asset management, collaboration, and client review into a single solution. The core offering consists of the Shade Platform and ShadeFS (cloud-based virtual file system), supported by four key modules: Instant Access (real-time byte-level file streaming), AI Search (with automatic tagging, facial recognition, and natural language search), Review & Approval (anchored annotations and version management), and Client Delivery (branded sharing with permissions). Additional products include Shade Vault for intelligent archival storage and the Shade Desktop App for mounting cloud drives locally. The platform targets creative teams across industries including sports media, film & TV, advertising, photography, and podcasts, positioning itself as a replacement for fragmented tool stacks like LucidLink, Frame.io, and Dropbox.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Shade Platform Unified cloud-based media storage and management platform that consolidates file storage, asset management, AI-powered search, review and approval, and archiving into a single solution for creative teams in sports media, advertising, film, and TV production.
- ShadeFS Cloud-based virtual file system designed for entertainment and media creative workers that enables unified access to multi-source files via intelligent byte-level part-file streaming without downloads or uploads.
- Shade Instant Access Real-time file streaming module that lets media teams edit full-resolution files instantly without waiting for downloads or manual transfers, using byte-level streaming technology to deliver only the requested portions of files.
- Shade AI Search AI-powered search module that provides automatic tagging, facial recognition, automated transcription, and natural language search across media assets, letting users find specific moments in video using full sentences and identifying faces, jersey numbers, products, and scene descriptions.
- Shade Review & Approval Native review and approval module offering frame-accurate anchored annotations, timestamped comments, version stacking, and collaborative feedback tools for media teams and their clients.
- Shade Client Delivery Client delivery module that provides customizable sharing with permissions, multi-link configurations, client collections, branded delivery experiences, and internal RBAC for secure handoffs to external clients.
- Shade Vault Intelligent archival storage module that keeps archived media content searchable and streamable with continuous AI analysis, enabling long-term lifecycle management and monetization of historical assets.
- Shade Desktop App Desktop application for macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows, and Linux (Debian and Fedora) that enables users to mount Shade cloud drives locally and access full-resolution files in real time with intelligent part-file streaming.
Quantifiable outcome
- Save 30+ hours per project on media management
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Shade
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments10 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Shade technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration5 records
AI capability8 records
Feature10 records
Shade partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Shade competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MASV: Cloud-native large file transfer and collaboration for media teams. Overlaps with Shade's Instant Access module for moving and accessing large video assets, serving the same post-production and broadcast customers.
- Frame.io (Adobe): Direct competitor in review-and-approval workflows for video teams. Adobe-owned Frame.io is explicitly named in Shade's displacement list, serving the same post-production, agency, and studio customers with frame-accurate commenting and version control.
- LucidLink: Direct competitor in cloud NAS / file streaming for media teams. Shade explicitly calls out replacing LucidLink with part-file streaming and cloud-native access, serving the same creative and post-production customer base.
- Iconik: Direct competitor in cloud-based media asset management. Iconik provides AI tagging, search, and shared storage for media teams and is explicitly named by Shade as one of the tools it consolidates.
Broad incumbents
- Box: Broad incumbent in enterprise cloud content management. Customer quote compares Shade favorably to Box for video and other applications, positioning Box as a generalist incumbent Shade displaces in media workflows.
- Adobe Creative Cloud: Adobe's suite of professional creative tools (Premiere, After Effects) integrates with Shade natively but is the broader ecosystem incumbent. Adobe's ownership of Frame.io and ongoing AI investments (Sensei/Firefly) make it a strategic threat on both the editing and review sides.
- Dropbox: Broad incumbent in cloud file storage and collaboration. Dropbox is named by Shade as one of the tools customers are consolidating off, though Dropbox is general-purpose rather than media-specialized.
- Vimeo: Video hosting, collaboration, and review platform. Vimeo's OTT/collaboration tools overlap with Shade's review and client delivery modules for professional video customers, though Vimeo is broader and more consumer-leaning.
Emerging players
- Wipster: Specialized review-and-approval platform for video teams. Overlaps with Shade's Review & Approval module and serves similar creative customers, but with a narrower feature set focused on annotation and approval rather than full file-system streaming.
Others
- Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage: Low-cost cloud object storage provider often used as a BYOS backend for media workflows. Shade's BYOS S3 option competes architecturally with Wasabi as a cheaper storage layer, though Wasabi is infrastructure-only without Shade's app layer.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Shade social profiles
Digital presenceShade compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance5 records
Shade financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Shade leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Shade funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Shade M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Shade
What does Shade do?
Shade provides a unified cloud-based media storage and management platform built on its proprietary ShadeFS virtual file system, delivering intelligent part-file streaming, AI-powered search and metadata tagging, native review and approval, branded client delivery, and intelligent archival storage. The platform is designed for creative and media teams to consolidate fragmented tools (storage, asset management, review, archiving) into a single subscription SaaS offering available via desktop apps and a web application.
Is Shade a public or private company?
Shade is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Shade founded?
Shade was founded in 2024. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Shade based?
Shade is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Shade make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Subscription - SaaS Platform is the primary driver. The others are storage Add-ons.
Who are Shade's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MASV, Frame.io (Adobe), LucidLink and Iconik. Broad incumbents are Box, Adobe Creative Cloud, Dropbox and Vimeo. Wipster is listed as an emerging player. Wasabi Hot Cloud Storage is listed as an others.
Does Shade have an API?
No public API is recorded for Shade.
What industry is Shade in?
Shade's product category is Media Asset Management and Creative Collaboration Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHANAA, Cloud Editing & Finishing Platforms (NLE in cloud, conform, color), with a secondary code of MPAHANAF, Cloud Rendering & Compute for Post/VFX/Animation (render farms, burst compute). Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7370.