Zurich-based online video startup Viewster is making waves after drawing 8.3 million viewers in the United States for February, making comScore’s recent Top 50 U.S. video properties list. The small company may not have the top box office titles in its collection, but with six months free for new comers, it has been gaining momentum globally and in the U.S. Viewster features content from 150 partners and is distributed in 120 countries.

When the company started in 2008, the initial plan was to offer business-to-business services. However, in 2010 it changed direction by charging consumers for video streaming content. With an unsuccessful start to paid subscriptions, it wasn’t until it began offering free content that the site began to take off.

“According to the comScore Video Metrix for February 2013 Viewster is now a Top 20 online video property in the UK for the first time,” reports Broadband TV News. The company is expanding with 6,000 films and television shows.

“Month-after-month we’re seeing impressive growth in the UK and worldwide as more consumers choose to watch films and TV shows on demand. Last year we served up over a billion videos in 120 countries, representing a 700 percent increase on 2011 and proving that consumers want an alternative to pricey pay-to-view or subscription services,” said Viewster CEO Kai Henniges.

“Viewster’s special advantage is that it has a very large device footprint, with apps on 20 connected TV platforms as well as Android and iOS,” reports paidContent. “However, getting the viewers to find and actually use these apps has proven to be a challenge. Social discovery simply doesn’t work on a connected TV, where there’s often no way to discover content without browsing through an app.”

Viewster also announced that it has created partnerships to include festival films in its library. “We’re proud to feature festival films that have never been shown in cinemas or home entertainment before,” said Henniges.