About Forbidden
Forbidden is a company based in London (United Kingdom) founded in 1998. Forbidden offers products and services including Cloud Video Editing Platform and Blackbird App. Forbidden operates in a competitive market with competitors including Adobe, Foundry, CyberLink, SideFX and 88 Pictures, among others.
- Annual Revenue$1.86 M (USD)-13.88as on Dec 31, 2025
- Net Profit-$3.51 M (USD)-11.2as on Dec 31, 2025
- EBITDA-$2.38 M (USD)18.88as on Dec 31, 2025
- Latest Funding Round$3M (USD), Post-IPO
Dec 2016
Products & Services of Forbidden
Forbidden offers a comprehensive portfolio of products and services, including Cloud Video Editing Platform and Blackbird App.
Browser-based tool for remote video editing and quick publishing.
Application for collaborative video production and distribution.
Apps and channels of Forbidden
its YouTube channel Blackbird has 520 subscribers and 30 videos.
Videos from Forbidden
The most watched videos on Forbidden's YouTube channel, Blackbird (520 subscribers). Click a video to play it here.
More on Blackbird.
Funding Insights of Forbidden
- Total Rounds 3
- Last Round Post-IPO — $3M
- First Round $13.8M
(Aug 2013)
All 3 funding rounds of Forbidden with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.
| Date | Amount | Transaction Name | Valuation | Lead Investors | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 2016 | $3M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
| May 2016 | $1.87M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
| Aug 2013 | $13.8M | Post-IPO | – | – | – |
People of Forbidden
16 people are tracked at Forbidden (6 in leadership, 10 in team).
| Name | Role | Group |
|---|---|---|
Ian McDonough | CEO | Leadership |
Fabio Ardemagni | Head of Creative | Leadership |
Stephen White | Chief Operating & Financial Officer | Leadership |
Sumit Rai | Chief Product Officer | Leadership |
Huw Dymond | VP, Product & Operations | Leadership |
Stephen Streater | R&D Director | Leadership |
Edward Compton | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Andrew Slough | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Agne Serniute, ACCA | Financial Controller | Team |
Tim Chaffee | Product Specialist | Team |
Shamil Mallaev | Software Developer | Team |
Andy Haith | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Mateo Inchaurrandieta | Lead Software Engineer | Team |
Simon Gibbons | Senior Software Engineer | Team |
Chris Francis | Software Engineer | Team |
Henry Clout | Principal Engineer | Team |
Complete people profiles for Forbidden
Full employee and board profiles, team structure, tenure and professional contact details require an active premium plan.
- Full employee list
- Team structure
- Board tenure
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IPO & Listings of Forbidden
Forbidden is a publicly listed company on the LSE with ticker symbol BIRD in UK, operating in the Technology services sector. As a publicly traded entity, the company provides investors with opportunities to participate in its growth story through equity ownership. The listing enables access to capital markets, enhances corporate visibility, and provides liquidity for shareholders while maintaining transparency through regulatory compliance and regular financial disclosures.
- IPO date29 Feb 2000
- Listed onLSE: FBT
- Listed entityBlackbird PLC
- Exchange sectorTechnology services
- ISINGB0004740477
- Share price1.86 GBX (+3.33% on the day) · 2026-10-09
- Market capitalisation8,644,887.00 GBX
- EPS (diluted, trailing year)-0.01 GBX
- Volume (last session)2,542,928
Financials of Forbidden
| Year | Revenue | Net income | EBITDA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 1.4M GBP | -2.6M GBP | -1.8M GBP |
| 2024 | 1.6M GBP | -2.4M GBP | -2.2M GBP |
| 2023 | 1.9M GBP | -2.5M GBP | -2.3M GBP |
| 2022 | 2.9M GBP | -1.9M GBP | -1.6M GBP |
| 2021 | 2.1M GBP | -2.1M GBP | -1.7M GBP |
Detailed financial statements for Forbidden
Statement rows, ratios, five-year trends and downloadable financials of the group companies require an active premium plan.
- Statement rows
- Financial ratios
- Five-year trends
- Downloads
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Timeline of Forbidden
4 dated milestones of Forbidden across 18 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.
- Founded Forbidden is founded.
- IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
- Funding First funding round of $13.8M.
- Funding Latest funding round, Post-IPO, of $3.0M.
Competitors of Forbidden
Forbidden operates in a dynamic and competitive business environment, facing competition from various established players and emerging companies in the market. The competitive landscape includes prominent companies such as Adobe, Foundry, CyberLink, SideFX and 88 Pictures, among others.
| Company Name | Domain | Founded | HQ Location | Total funding | Employees | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| adobe.com | 1982 | San Jose, United States | – | 30,709 | AI-powered platform manages marketing creatives and customer journeys. | |
| foundry.com | 1996 | London, United Kingdom | – | 198 | VFX and animation software is provided for entertainment industries. | |
| cyberlink.com | 1996 | Taipei, Taiwan | – | – | Post-production software solutions are provided for media industry editing. | |
| sidefx.com | 1987 | Toronto, Canada | – | – | 3D animation and VFX software provider | |
| 88.pictures | 2016 | Mumbai, India | $1.14M | 124 | Animation solutions are provided for media industry content production. | |
| newbluefx.com | 2006 | San Diego, United States | – | – | Video editing plugins are supplied for filmmakers and broadcasters. | |
| movielabs.com | 2006 | San Francisco, United States | – | – | Researches new technologies for film production, post-production, and digital distribution. |
Detailed competitors of Forbidden
The full competitor set, operating metrics and side-by-side benchmarks require an active premium plan.
- Full competitor set
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Web traffic of Forbidden
Websites that share an audience with Forbidden (forbidden.co.uk).
Websites whose visitors overlap most with Forbidden. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.
| Website | Domain | Audience affinity | Monthly visits | Global rank | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
dvinfo.net | dvinfo.net | 100% | – | #525,686 | – |
| israk.my | 74% | – | #4,103,088 | View details | |
google.co.uk | google.co.uk | 55% | – | #355 | – |
eva.co | eva.co | 52% | – | – | – |
netro.ca | netro.ca | 46% | – | – | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
| •••••••••• | ••••••.com | ••% | •.•M | #••••• | – |
All 9 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Forbidden
The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.
- 9 similar websites
- Audience overlap
- Engagement analytics
- Traffic by brand
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Latest news on Forbidden
Complete news archive for Forbidden
Full article history, source details, and older brand coverage require an active premium plan.
- Full article archive
- Source and publication date
- Older coverage
- Brand-specific news history
Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.
Similar companies to Forbidden
10 companies that operate in the same segment as Forbidden (Film, TV & Broadcasting Tech), ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.
| Company | Description | Founded | Location | Total funding | Revenue | Employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
AI-powered platform manages marketing creatives and customer journeys. | 1982 | San Jose, California, United States | – | USD 23.77 B | 30,710 | |
Software is provided for managing, distributing, and monetizing media content. | 1987 | Burlington, Vermont, United States | – | USD 523.32 K | – | |
Sky is recognized as a provider of TV, broadband, and mobile services. | 1990 | Isleworth, England, United Kingdom | – | – | 31,000 | |
Integrated telecom and IPTV services are provided to Canadian customers. | 1874 | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada | – | USD 14.86 B | 106,800 | |
Integrated telecommunication and TV services are provided across Finland. | 1999 | Helsinki, Finland | USD 188.17 M | – | – | |
Cloud solutions for broadcast, streaming, and advertising industries are provided. | 2008 | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India | USD 364.17 M | USD 87.14 M | 746 | |
Digital media recognition solutions are provided for content management. | 1993 | Emeryville, California, United States | USD 50.99 M | – | 248 | |
Ad data management is facilitated by AI across connected devices. | 2008 | San Francisco, California, United States | USD 46.34 M | – | 384 | |
Online event ticketing platform offering a wide range of entertainment options, including movies, concerts, sports, and plays, enabling users to di... | 1999 | Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | – | – | – | |
Provider of music distribution and artist and label services globally | 1997 | New York, New York, United States | USD 14.7 M | – | – |
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Frequently Asked Questions about Forbidden
Forbidden was founded in 1998 and raised its 1st funding round 15 years after it was founded.
Forbidden is headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is registered at London, England, United Kingdom.
Ian McDonough is the current CEO of Forbidden.
Annual revenue of Forbidden is $1.86M as on Dec 31, 2025.
Forbidden Technologies was founded in 1998 in London, United Kingdom, and operates in the media and entertainment sector. A cloud-based platform is provided to support professional post-production workflows, including multicam editing and remote video manipulation via a lightweight viewer. The service is utilized by producers, web video creators, educators, and broadcast television entities. Consumer software named Captevate has been launched recently for broader accessibility.
Forbidden offers Cloud Video Editing Platform and Blackbird App.
Yes, Forbidden is publicly traded on LSE under the ticker symbol BIRD.
Forbidden operates through Blackbird Plc.