Bisly

What Bisly does

Bisly is a privately held, Paris-based media group structured as a French SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée), operating three distinct social-media-native content brands. The portfolio comprises AVRE (formerly Explore Media), which publishes French-language documentary and short-form content on geography, history, science, and major phenomena; Flare, the English-language international extension producing documentary content adapted for US and global audiences; and Decode, a pop-culture and true-crime vertical targeting the 15-34 demographic. The group reaches audiences primarily through YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook (with TikTok planned for Flare), and reports an aggregate footprint exceeding 1 billion cumulative video views. Its flagship Decode brand alone reports more than 3 million YouTube subscribers and over 100 million monthly views. The company's stated collaborator count is approximately 50, with no publicly disclosed founding date, headcount history, or revenue figure.

The group's underlying production technology, platform architecture, and tooling stack are not publicly disclosed; the business is fundamentally content-led rather than technology-led, with no documented proprietary systems, APIs, SDKs, or AI/ML capabilities. Audience development is organic and platform-native, drawing on editorial differentiation across the three brands to capture distinct but complementary demographic and language segments.

Monetization is anchored in brand content collaborations, sponsorships, and advertising partnerships, with B2B outreach routed through [email protected]. Pricing is not publicly disclosed and is treated as quote-based on a campaign basis. The group claims presence in 5+ countries, with France as the primary market and the United States as the principal international target via Flare. The ownership structure appears founder/management-controlled, with no institutional investor or parent company disclosed in the dataset; the only recorded capital event is a 2014 IMT Starter seed participation. Michael Sebbag is listed as Directeur de publication in the legal notices.

Name

Bisly

Legal name

BISLY

Website

https://bisly.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Bisly is a Paris-based media group operating three social-media-native content brands — AVRE (French documentary), Flare (international English documentary), and Decode (pop-culture/true crime for the 15-34 demographic) — distributed via YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook and monetized through brand-content partnerships and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Digital Media Entertainment

NAICS

Advertising Agencies (54181)

SIC

Services-Advertising Agencies (7311), Television Broadcasting Stations (4833)

akta.pro primary industry

AVOD Streaming Channels (Ad-Supported OTT) (MPABAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

International Thematic/Genre Broadcasters (Entertainment/Lifestyle/Documentary/Music) (MPABAEAL)

Keywords

• Documentary video production
• Digital media publishing
• Brand content partnerships
• Social video content
• Video content distribution

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Brand Content & Partnerships: Revenue generated through brand content collaborations, sponsorships, and partnership deals with brands and campaigns

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Bisly is a Paris-based independent media group that operates three content brands producing and distributing documentary, pop-culture, and entertainment video content across social-media platforms (YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok). The group is structured around AVRE (French documentary, formerly Explore Media), Flare (English-language international documentary), and Decode (pop-culture and true-crime content targeting a 15–34 demographic), and monetizes its audience primarily through brand content partnerships and advertising.

Product overview

Bisly is a Paris-based media group operating three distinct media brands with complementary editorial lines and audiences. The portfolio includes AVRE (documentary content in French), Flare (international English-language adaptation), and Decode (pop-culture and true crime targeting young adults). The three brands share a common expertise in storytelling and attention capture, distributed across social media platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• AVRE French-language digital video brand producing documentary and short-form content on tech, science, and culture, distributed across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Targeted at French-speaking documentary audiences.
• Flare English-language digital video brand covering major international documentary stories, distributed across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. Targeted at global English-speaking documentary audiences.
• Decode Pop-culture and true-crime digital video brand for the 15–34 demographic, distributed across YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok with reported 100M+ monthly views and 3M+ subscribers. Monetized via brand content partnerships and advertising.

Quantifiable outcome

• 1 billion+ cumulative views across all brands
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brut. Paris-based global digital media company producing short-form video news and culture content for social platforms, reaching young audiences worldwide — directly comparable to Bisly's Flare/Direct-to-consumer social video model.
• Webedia: France's largest digital media group operating a portfolio of themed brands (entertainment, pop culture, lifestyle) across YouTube and social platforms. Closely comparable as a French multi-brand digital media portfolio operator.
• Jellysmack: French-origin digital video company that amplifies and monetizes creator/social video content across platforms including YouTube. Comparable business model and French digital media origin.
• NowThis: US-based social-first video publisher producing short-form documentary and news content optimized for social platforms, targeting younger audiences — same content format and distribution approach as Decode/Flare.
• Studio71: Multi-channel YouTube network operating a portfolio of themed video brands across genres including documentary and entertainment, with revenue from ads and brand partnerships. Comparable multi-brand YouTube portfolio model.
• Little Dot Studios: Multi-channel documentary and factual video network operating brands across YouTube and social platforms with global reach. Closely comparable multi-brand documentary portfolio approach.

Broad incumbents

• Vice Media: Global digital media group producing documentary-style content targeting young adult audiences across social and OTT. A larger incumbent operating in the same documentary-for-young-adults category as Bisly.
• Vox Media: US-based digital media holding company with a portfolio of editorial brands covering culture, technology, and documentaries. A larger incumbent operating a multi-brand digital media portfolio similar to Bisly's structure.
• Insider (Business Insider): Major digital-first media company producing documentary-style video, news, and culture content distributed via social and owned platforms at scale. Comparable digital-first editorial and video production operations.

Regional players

• France.tv Slash: France Télévisions' youth-oriented digital brand producing short-form documentary and culture content for French-speaking young audiences. Comparable French-market documentary/young-adult positioning, though operated as a public broadcaster unit.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@DecodeFR
• Facebookfacebook.com/ExploreScienceFR
• Instagraminstagram.com/Decode.off
• Xx.com/Bisly_co
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bisly

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Bisly