Hiscale
Hiscale GmbH is a Cologne-based media technology company that builds cloud-native elastic video transcoding and workflow orchestration software (FLICS, FLICS INGEST, JOBS, AGENT) sold to broadcasters, media companies, and tier-1 operators globally through direct sales and 20+ resellers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersCologne, Germany
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Hiscale does
Hiscale GmbH is a German media technology company headquartered in Cologne that builds cloud-native video transcoding and workflow orchestration software for the broadcast and media industry. Its core product, FLICS (Flexible Live Intelligent Coding System), is a Docker-based, microservices-architecture elastic transcoding cluster that auto-scales in real time and can be deployed on-premises, in the cloud, or in hybrid configurations. The product family extends FLICS with FLICS INGEST (live recording for SDI/SRT/NDI sources), JOBS (a BPMN-based workflow engine for orchestrating multi-vendor media environments with 30+ built-in integrations), and AGENT (a free desktop application for verified media ingest and transfer).
Hiscale monetizes through multiple streams: enterprise subscriptions for FLICS CLUSTER (CAPEX or OPEX), one-time perpetual licenses for the entry-level FLICS SOLO, monthly SaaS subscriptions for FLICS ONLINE managed transcoding, OEM/embedded licensing for partners white-labeling its technology, and professional services for consulting and implementation. Distribution is hybrid: direct enterprise sales plus a global network of 20+ authorized resellers across Europe, North America, South America, and Africa, supplemented by OEM partnerships. The company sells primarily to traditional broadcasters, media companies, sports broadcasters, tier-1 telecom operators, content owners, and web platforms, with named reference customers including UFA Serial Drama GmbH and Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb). The company is privately held, co-led by Co-CEO Tilo Skomudek and CEO/Director Business Development & Operations Christoph Jurkuhn, with a small team of 11-50 employees.
Hiscale firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Hiscale
- Legal name
- Hiscale GmbH
- Website
- https://hiscale.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Hiscale GmbH is a Cologne-based media technology company that builds cloud-native elastic video transcoding and workflow orchestration software (FLICS, FLICS INGEST, JOBS, AGENT) sold to broadcasters, media companies, and tier-1 operators globally through direct sales and 20+ resellers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Hiscale industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Video Transcoding & Media Workflow Software
- NAICS
- Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210), Software Publishers (5132), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cloud Encoding & Transcoding Services (SaaS/PaaS) (MPAHAHAC)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Live Stream Processing (Ingest, ABR Packaging, Just-in-Time Packaging) (MPAHAHAD), Cloud Storage, Sync & Transfer for Media (high-speed ingest/egress, acceleration) (MPAHANAD), Cloud-Native Development (Containers, Kubernetes, Microservices) (BPAEACAD), Live Streaming & Webcasting Platforms (BPAMAJAB)
Keywords
Where Hiscale is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Cologne
- HQ country
- Germany
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
Hiscale business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- FLICS CLUSTER - Enterprise Software License: CAPEX/OPEX model for large-scale media operations. Elastic transcoding cluster for broadcast, VOD, and live production environments with on-prem, cloud, or hybrid deployment. Auto-scales based on real-time demand.
- FLICS SOLO - Entry Level License: Stand-alone transcoding engine available in 3 editions: File Transcoding, ABR Encoding, Standards Conversion. CAPEX entry-level pricing for small setups with professional demands.
- FLICS ONLINE - Managed Transcoding Service: Managed transcoding as a service with flexible SaaS integration and pricing tiers. Fully operated service with cost-effective scalable pricing.
- OEM/Embedded Licensing: OEM option available for products or technology pieces. Partners can embed or white-label Hiscale technology.
- Professional Services: Consulting and implementation services mentioned in customer testimonials: 'They did a great job consulting during the system requirements specification phase, and implemented new features faster than we expected.'
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | FLICS CLUSTER - Enterprise elastic transcoding for large-scale operations |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | FLICS SOLO - Entry level transcoding engine |
| Subscription | Monthly | FLICS ONLINE - Managed Transcoding as a Service |
| Freemium | Monthly | Hiscale AGENT - Free ingest and transfer application |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Hiscale product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Hiscale develops and sells cloud-native video transcoding and media workflow orchestration software for broadcasters, media companies, and content owners. Its core product, FLICS (Flexible Intelligent Cloud Scalable), is an elastic, microservices-based transcoding engine that auto-scales for live, file-based, and VOD workloads, deployable on-prem, in the cloud, or hybrid. The company complements this with FLICS INGEST for live recording, JOBS for multi-vendor workflow orchestration, and a free AGENT desktop application for verified ingest and transfer.
Product overview
Hiscale offers a unified platform-plus-modules architecture centered on FLICS (Flexible Live Intelligent Coding System), a cloud-native, microservices-based responsive video transcoding engine. The product family includes FLICS (core elastic transcoding cluster), FLICS INGEST (live recording and growing file solution), JOBS (BPMN-based workflow orchestration engine), and AGENT (free ingest and transfer desktop app). Products share a common integration layer via RESTful APIs, support hybrid deployment across cloud, on-prem, or both, and are orchestrated through watch folders, automation rules, and webhooks. The ICONIK + FLICS integration adds native MAM connectivity. All products are built on Docker technology and run on Linux.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- FLICS: Elastic Transcoding Cluster - responsive video transcoding platform for broadcast-grade performance with cloud-native flexibility
- FLICS INGEST
- AGENT
- JOBS
- ICONIK + FLICS
Products and services
- FLICS Cloud-native, elastic video transcoding cluster (FLICS - Flexible Intelligent Cloud Scalable) that auto-scales compute up or down based on real-time demand for file-based, VOD, and live broadcast workflows. Supports broadcast-grade formats (RED, BRAW, ARRI RAW, Canon RAW, XAVC, ProRes, DNxHD/HR, AVC-Intra, 4K/UHD, HDR BT.2020, adaptive bitrate), hybrid deployment (on-prem, cloud, or both), GPU acceleration, and Split & Stitch parallel UHD processing. Available in FLICS CLUSTER (enterprise subscription), FLICS SOLO (entry-level perpetual license in three editions), and FLICS ONLINE (managed SaaS).
- FLICS INGEST Scalable live recording solution for capturing broadcast-quality content from any source to any location. Supports SDI, SRT, and NDI ingest formats, smart scheduling, growing file support for real-time editing during live events, and broadcast-quality encoding (X264/265, XDCAM HD, AVCi, DNxHD). Designed for on-prem, cloud, or hybrid deployment and is used by broadcasters and live event producers.
- JOBS Media file workflow orchestration engine that simplifies and automates the complexities of integrated multi-vendor media environments. Features a BPMN-based workflow editor, rule-based process control, watch folders, webhooks, scheduler, RESTful APIs, and built-in integrations with 30+ broadcast tools (Telestream Vantage, Dalet Amberfin, Harmonic WFS, Colorfront Transkoder, IBM Aspera, Interra BATON, etc.).
- AGENT Free lightweight desktop application for media ingest and transfer. Reliably moves files from camera cards, local disks, and cloud storage into production workflows with bit-for-bit checksum verification, smart naming, metadata input, auto card detect, parallel transfers, ASC MHL support, drag-and-drop, live progress, error alerts, and FLICS workflow automation triggers. Available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
- ICONIK + FLICS Native integration of FLICS cloud transcoding with the Iconik cloud-native media asset management (MAM) platform. Enables an automated media pipeline from camera RAW to delivery within the Iconik storage environment, supporting subclips, RAW formats, on-demand transcoding, live ingest, and automated multi-format delivery without leaving the MAM environment.
Quantifiable outcome
- Save up to 50% on media processing costs compared to legacy infrastructure
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Hiscale
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Hiscale technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration33 records
AI capability5 records
Feature9 records
Hiscale partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
18 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.
- BackblazeflagshipJoint showcase at 2026 NAB Show (April 18-22, Las Vegas) demonstrating modern media workflows, AI technologies, and cloud-based solutions for media production, protection, and distribution. Part of Backblaze's partner ecosystem showcasing integrated solutions for media organizations.
- Codemill ABcoreStrategic partnership integrating Hiscale's FLICS transcoding service with Codemill's Cantemo MAM and Accurate.Video applications. Creates a live-ingest-and-logging solution for broadcasters enabling simultaneous live recording, proxy generation, and streaming without traditional post-production bottlenecks. Positions Codemill to enter the live broadcast market.
- IconikcoreNative integration partnership. FLICS cloud transcoding is natively supported in Iconik. Enables automated media pipeline from camera RAW to delivery within Iconik storage environment. Supports subclips, RAW formats, live ingest, and format conversion.
- LucidLinkcoreListed partner for seamless storage integration enabling cloud-based workflows. Featured on website as selected partner.
- VidispinecoreListed partner for enterprise asset management integration. Featured on website as selected partner.
- Backlight (Iconik)coreParent company of Iconik. Joint presence at MPTS 2026 in London along with CCKTech to demonstrate scalable transcoding capabilities.
- ARRIcoreCamera manufacturer partnership for ARRI RAW format support in FLICS transcoding. Listed on partners page.
- HarmoniccoreMajor broadcast infrastructure vendor partnership. Integration with Harmonic WFS, ProMedia Carbon, and MediaGrid storage. Listed on partners page.
- InSync TechnologiescoreFrameFormer frame-rate conversion technology partnership. Provides motion-compensated frame-rate conversion trusted across broadcast industry for high-end sports content.
- TelestreamcoreIntegration with Telestream Vantage and Vidchecker for QC workflows. Listed as partner at NAB Show 2026.
- CCKTechcoreUK-based specialist provider of production technology and workflow systems. Joint presence at MPTS 2026. Over 30 years experience with post-production teams and facilities.
- DID TechnologycoreFrance-based trusted partner for over 20 years in integration of audiovisual post-production solutions. Five departments covering Audio, Video, Network, Sales, Rental.
- CineSyscoreUS-based engineering-centric company specializing in designing, implementing and supporting creative workflows. Helps improve production pipeline from ingest to delivery.
- Integrated Media Technologies (IMT)coreLeading media technology systems integrator in North America with over 20 decades combined experience and 50+ engineers. Trusted partner for hundreds of businesses.
- Advanced Systems Group (ASG)coreUS-based integrator established 1997. One of nation's largest installers of production, post production, and shared storage systems. Serves media, broadcast, film, and corporate video markets.
- netorium AGcoreDACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) application integrator in media and telecommunications sector. Covers entire value chain from workflows, storage, streaming to playout.
- Bridge DigitalcoreUS-based integrator and value added reseller with expertise in digital video workflows. Helps content creators build infrastructure to create, manage, distribute, and monetize video assets.
- CHESAcoreUS-based digital media workflow partner serving major news outlets, NFL media rooms, and post production services. Designs, builds, integrates, and supports media workflow solutions.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Hiscale competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Ateme: Broadcast and OTT video compression/ transcoding vendor (TITAN) competing for the same tier-1 operator and broadcaster accounts as Hiscale, including live and file-based workflows.
- Telestream: Direct competitor in broadcast-grade file and live transcoding (Vantage, Lightspeed). Telestream is integrated into Hiscale's JOBS workflow engine, indicating overlapping product portfolios competing for the same broadcaster customers.
- Harmonic: Major broadcast infrastructure vendor with ProMedia Carbon transcoders and MediaGrid storage — a direct competitor in on-prem/cloud transcoding that Hiscale integrates with via JOBS, evidencing head-to-head deals for tier-1 broadcasters.
- Bitmovin: Cloud-native video encoding/streaming technology provider with per-minute SaaS pricing and elastic scaling — directly comparable to FLICS Online and targeting similar streaming-media and OTT customers.
Emerging players
- Mux: Developer-focused video API platform offering encoding and streaming as a managed service. Comparable cloud-native transcoding/streaming DNA targeting digital-first media and SaaS customers adjacent to Hiscale's segment.
Others
- Backblaze: Flagship technology partner of Hiscale (joint NAB 2026 showcase). Cloud object storage provider that complements FLICS ingest/transcoding pipelines — adjacent ecosystem participant rather than direct competitor.
- Iconik: Cloud-native media asset management (MAM) platform with native FLICS integration. Adjacent enabling technology whose customer base overlaps Hiscale's and whose roadmap pulls FLICS transcoding into more workflows.
- Codemill (Cantemo / Accurate.Video): Strategic technology partner integrating Hiscale FLICS with Cantemo MAM and Accurate.Video. Closely complementary ecosystem player, jointly entering live broadcast with Hiscale's transcoding layer.
Broad incumbents
- AWS Elemental (MediaConvert/MediaLive): Hyperscale cloud transcoding services from AWS that compete with FLICS Online on price and ecosystem depth. A broad incumbent offering transcoding as part of a much larger cloud portfolio.
- Imagine Communications: Established broadcast infrastructure vendor with playout, processing, and transcoding solutions. A broad incumbent Hiscale displaces with elastic cloud-native architecture in hybrid deployments.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Hiscale social profiles
Digital presenceHiscale financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Hiscale leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Hiscale funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Hiscale 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 Hiscale
What does Hiscale do?
Hiscale develops and sells cloud-native video transcoding and media workflow orchestration software for broadcasters, media companies, and content owners. Its core product, FLICS (Flexible Intelligent Cloud Scalable), is an elastic, microservices-based transcoding engine that auto-scales for live, file-based, and VOD workloads, deployable on-prem, in the cloud, or hybrid. The company complements this with FLICS INGEST for live recording, JOBS for multi-vendor workflow orchestration, and a free AGENT desktop application for verified ingest and transfer.
Is Hiscale a public or private company?
Hiscale is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Hiscale founded?
Hiscale was founded in 2014. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Hiscale based?
Hiscale is headquartered in Cologne, Germany, in the Europe region.
How does Hiscale make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. FLICS CLUSTER - Enterprise Software License is the primary driver. The others are FLICS SOLO - Entry Level License, FLICS ONLINE - Managed Transcoding Service, OEM/Embedded Licensing and professional Services.
Who are Hiscale's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Ateme, Telestream, Harmonic and Bitmovin. Mux is listed as an emerging player. Others are Backblaze, Iconik and Codemill (Cantemo / Accurate.Video). Broad incumbents are AWS Elemental (MediaConvert/MediaLive) and Imagine Communications.
Does Hiscale have an API?
Yes. Hiscale offers RESTful APIs for FLICS, SHIFT, and JOBS products. Interactive REST API documentation is accessible by logging into the system and clicking the API menu entry, with an API Guide available under the Docs menu. Documentation is also available in an offline version upon request. Developer documentation is at www.hiscale.com.
What industry is Hiscale in?
Hiscale's product category is Video Transcoding & Media Workflow Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAHAHAC, Cloud Encoding & Transcoding Services (SaaS/PaaS), with a secondary code of MPAHAHAD, Live Stream Processing (Ingest, ABR Packaging, Just-in-Time Packaging). Its NAICS code is 516210 and its SIC code is 7370.