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Scaling the stream: BeLive's reinvention in the global live-video race
Book chapter

Scaling the stream: BeLive's reinvention in the global live-video race

Tarin Ong, Jürgen Rudolph and Pauline Seah
Entrepreneurship in Singapore: Case Studies, History and Ecosystem, pp.164-178
Routledge as part of the Taylor and Francis Group, 1
2026

Abstract

This chapter analyses BeLive Technology's trajectory from near-failure to regional leadership in live-video solutions. A serendipitous LinkedIn enquiry from Rakuten reframed BeLive's core asset - their low-latency video player - as a licensable technology, prompting an abrupt pivot from business-to-consumer broadcasting to a business-to-business model. The shift secured seven-figure revenues, attracted marquee clients across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and demonstrated the strategic value of agile resource reconfiguration. Founder Kenneth Tan's narrative foregrounds psychological resilience, transparent leadership, and the catalytic role of professional networks. The analysis also interrogates Singapore's entrepreneurial ecosystem: state grants, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) accreditation and accelerator programmes provided critical scaffolding, yet implicit biases in local capital markets underscored structural hurdles for non-elite founders. BeLive's Nasdaq Capital Market listing and acquisition strategy illustrate forward-looking exploitation of interactive video and artificial intelligence (AI), positioning the firm as a case study in adaptive entrepreneurship within small-state economies.

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