Vodafone, Yamaha and Dunlop are among the site's first advertisers. Valerio Zingarelli, Babelgum chief executive, said a key objective was to ensure advertising was not obstructive.
"We will have banners and tickers that are unobtrusive and don't interrupt clips," he said.
"It's difficult for a company starting from scratch to convince internet companies to put advertising on our platform, so we're very pleased with the names we have attracted."
Babelgum will this week launch its first viral marketing campaign to mark the full launch of its service.
The campaign surrounds the start of the Babelgum Online Film Festival, a competition for would-be film-makers who are being invited to submit short films to be judged by celebrated director Spike Lee.
The site, which has been in testing stages for eight months, began operating in June last year and, using niche and mainstream content, allows users to watch free on-demand and personalised TV channels. Professional video material is uploaded onto the site instead of the user-generated footage more common to sites such as YouTube.
Content providers already confirmed include IMG Media, Mobile Media Now, Reuters and Worldwide Entertainment, offering films on a wide range of subject matters from sport and music to comedy and nature.
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