WillItSurvive
Enterprise and productivity software · subsidiary of Videonor · Norway

Whereby

whereby.com ↗

Norwegian browser-based video calling platform used for embedded telehealth and meeting APIs.

Protection under test
Assessed 22 July 2026 · Evidence as of 22 July 2026
Something worth protecting exists and is being tested right now.
On the recordSince 22 July 2026 · Checkable from H2 2026 · Every call on the record Checkpoint: Whereby needs a new funding round or shows continued headcount decline past 47 employees
The call

Whereby still sits inside NHS telehealth workflows that are hard to rip out, but five years without new funding and no named CEO raise real questions about whether it can keep building fast enough to hold that position.

Whereby builds video and messaging software that healthcare clinics use to see patients remotely. It has real advantages because hospitals and clinics like the UK's NHS have built their workflows around it and don't want to switch, but cheaper alternatives like LiveKit and Daily.co are winning new customers by costing less and working better with AI. The real problem is not the competition alone: Whereby has had no new money in five years, cut its staff in half, and lost its CEO in 2023, which suggests the company is running out of cash and focus regardless of what rivals do.

Why
01
AI pressure: LiveKit. LiveKit is built for AI voice agents from the ground up, and new developers pick it by default over Whereby's API in 2026 builds. Could AI do the core job? Only partly.
02
Bigger players: Vonage and Daily.co. Vonage and Daily.co offer stronger native HIPAA and BAA support at scale, pulling healthcare API deals away from Whereby. Could a giant copy it? Yes, easily.
03
What protects it. Deep integration into NHS GP workflows via AccuRx, where switching means re-certifying compliance and retraining clinicians.
What would change this call
Whereby announces a priced funding round or bridge financing by mid-2027. Would show whether capital starvation is being resolved or is worsening.
Whereby headcount falls below 40 or a new CEO is publicly named. Would indicate deepening contraction or a stabilization/leadership reset.
Whereby wins or loses named healthcare/telehealth API deals against LiveKit or Daily.co in 2026-2027. Would show whether its compliance/workflow moat is holding against better-funded rivals.
Key numbers
  • Last priced round: $12M Series A, March 2021 (2021-03)
  • Headcount fell from 90 to 47 employees (2026-06)
  • No CEO publicly named since 2023 departure (2023)
Named risks
  • No priced funding round since March 2021, raising capital-starvation concerns. Severity: high
  • Headcount decline from ~90 in 2021 to 47 by June 2026. Severity: high
  • No public successor confirmed since CEO Oyvind Reed departed in 2023. Severity: medium
  • Losing new-build deals in telehealth to better-funded LiveKit and Daily.co. Severity: medium
  • Core WebRTC differentiation commoditizing as rivals bundle native AI features. Severity: medium
Rivals, as read in July 2026
RivalDirectionEvidence
LiveKitlosing toCalled 2026 default for new video builds, lower cost and AI-agent-native, per Feb 2026 Fora Soft analysis
Daily.colosing toCited as having stronger native HIPAA/BAA support at scale versus Whereby, Feb 2026
Vonagelosing toNamed alongside Daily as stronger on compliance depth for telehealth builds, Feb 2026
Zoom/Microsoft Teams/Google MeetcontestingDominate general video-meetings market Whereby Meetings competes in at much smaller scale
Questions people ask
Is Whereby profitable in 2026?
No revenue figures are publicly disclosed for Whereby. The company has raised only $12M in a March 2021 Series A led by Point Nine Capital, has not closed a new round since, and headcount fell from ~90 in 2021 to 47 by June 2026, per Crustdata.
Has Whereby raised any new funding recently?
No. Whereby's last priced round was a $12M Series A in March 2021 led by Point Nine Capital and SaaStr Fund. No new equity round or valuation has been publicly reported since, as of mid 2026.
Who owns Whereby?
Whereby operates as a subsidiary of Videonor, which acquired the original appear.in product in December 2017 and rebranded it Whereby in 2019. Pitchbook lists Whereby's status as an operating subsidiary of Videonor as of 2026.
Who is Whereby's biggest competitor?
LiveKit is cited by third-party engineering analysis as the 2026 default choice for new video builds due to lower cost and AI-agent-native design, per a February 2026 Fora Soft migration guide; Daily.co and Vonage are also named as stronger on HIPAA/BAA support.
Could AI replace Whereby's core product?
Whereby's core WebRTC video-call layer is commoditizing as platforms like LiveKit bundle native AI features. Whereby itself only shipped AI transcription and live captions in public beta in March 2025, roughly a year behind competitors like Krisp and Otter.ai.
Does Whereby have a CEO right now?
Former CEO Øyvind Reed stepped down in 2023 citing founder fatigue, moved to an advisory role, then left entirely for RAYVN, per an October 2024 podcast interview. No public source confirms who currently holds the CEO title.
Timeline
  • 2026-06Headcount reported at 47 employees, down from ~90 in 2021, per Crustdata
  • 2026-04Whereby signs partnership with healthcare compliance vendor Assuric
  • 2026-01Whereby signs partnership with Open Path Collective
  • 2025-11-28New pricing tiers for non-English transcription and captions take effect
  • 2025-04Whereby signs partnership with telehealth platform Jane App
  • 2025-03-13AI Session Transcriptions and Live Captions launch in public beta, 33 languages
  • 2024-09Whereby signs partnership with Cronofy
  • 2023CEO Oyvind Reed steps down; Whereby formalizes API-led pivot to Embedded
  • 2021-03-17Whereby raises $12M Series A led by Point Nine Capital
  • 2019appear.in rebrands to Whereby under Videonor ownership
  • 2017-12-17Videonor acquires appear.in from Telenor
  • 2013Ingrid Odegaard and Svein Willassen found appear.in
Revision history
22 July 2026
First assessed. Protection under test. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
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