Israeli-US startup GammaTime, founded by Israeli gaming entrepreneur Slava Mudrykh, Miramax CEO Bill Block and Alex Montalvo, is joining the micro-drama trend and has raised $14 million in seed funding for a new app that will produce and distribute micro-dramas to the smartphone user audience.
This is the first Israeli company, and one of the first US companies, to bring the Chinese micro-series trend to the US – series in 60-90 second episodes, produced for smartphone users in a vertical format. Among the company’s investors are also the stars of the docu-drama “Keeping Up with the Kardashians”, Kim Kardashian and her mother Kris Jenner, and Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian, with the company’s fundraising led mainly by Israeli funds: Pitango First, Pitango’s fund for early stage startups, and vgames, which invests in the gaming world.
The new company is expected to launch an app under the GammaTime brand in the app store soon, which will allow paid viewing of micro-series from the phone, and will release the first ten episodes to open apps such as Instagram, YouTube Shorts and TikTok. Before the launch, GammaTime produced about 20 original series, mainly for a young audience, such as romantic dramas, thrillers and true crime. The Israeli company has even signed the creator of the crime drama series CSI Anthony Zeiker to write and produce several series in the same genre.
The need for an Israeli development center is due to local expertise in the field of gaming. The economic model of micro-series, as well as the way they are promoted and consumed, is more reminiscent of computer games than a Netflix-style streaming service. These are 60-90 second episodes that usually end with a cliffhanger that encourages viewers to consume more content, with most series lasting a total of between 60 and 100 minutes. After ten episodes that can be watched for free on all social networks, viewers are required to pay a fee to watch the app via a monthly subscription (for example, $20 for rival apps), payment by virtual currencies – a model taken from the world of games, or in exchange for watching advertisements.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on October 23, 2025.
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