# Custos

Custos is an Asset Manager based in Stellenbosch, South Africa.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Asset Manager
- **Headquarters:** Stellenbosch, South Africa
- **Region:** Europe
- **Address:** LaunchLab, Hammanshand Rd, Stellenbosch, 7599, South Africa
- **Founded:** 2019
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** custostech.com
- **LinkedIn:** https://www.linkedin.com/company/custos

## About

Custos is the first company in the world to use blockchain technology to catch digital pirates. Content owners trust Custos to keep sensitive media safe and to detect leaks when and where they happen. It offers turnkey content protection using blockchain technology, including forensic watermarking for video, EdTech content, and enterprise documents. Custos Media Technologies was spun out of the MIH Media Lab at Stellenbosch University, South Africa, in 2013.

## Sectors

- Media & Entertainment
- Enterprise Software
- Education

## People

- G-J van Rooyen — CEO
- Fred Lutz — COO
- Herman Lintvelt — CTO

## Questions

### How does Custos’ incentive layer differ from standard digital rights management?

Standard DRM encrypts or locks content and relies on platform-level enforcement. Custos inserts a forensic watermark and a Bitcoin bounty into the file itself, so the first person who discovers a leaked copy and reports it can claim the reward. That creates a distributed economic incentive for detection without requiring the content owner to monitor every channel manually.

### Which content verticals does Custos serve?

Custos packages its technology for three use cases: video-on-demand workflows via an API, EdTech platforms through a native Moodle plugin, and enterprise document security via integration with enterprise information management systems. The common thread is forensic watermarking that survives screen recording, file compression, and redistribution.

### Does Custos operate as a blockchain company or a media-security vendor?

Custos is a media-security vendor that uses the Bitcoin blockchain as an anchoring layer for its leak-detection protocol. The business model is SaaS and API licensing, not token issuance or crypto speculation, and its clients — listed as spanning four continents — interact with the watermarking layer rather than with blockchain infrastructure directly.

### Does Custos participate in fund commitments or only direct deals?

The Altss research record classifies Custos as an asset manager with a venture and complex-situation strategy, but no specific deployment figures, portfolio companies, or fund vehicles are disclosed. Without disclosed principals, AUM, or a track record of commitments, its posture on fund-versus-direct activity cannot be verified.

## Related profiles

- [CWPIM](https://altss.com/profile/cwpim)

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Last updated: 2026-08-11T15:06:35.052Z

Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/custos

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