Say you’re Microsoft, the former king of the software biz which is trying to stay relevant as digital invades and transforms media. Old enemy Apple is encroaching on core businesses, won by focusing on usability. Google has beaten them by aggregating global audiences and changing how ads are sold.
What Microsoft lacks focus, they make up for in talent and critical core competencies like scale, global reach and relationships with multi-billion dollar corporations. Microsoft must reassert itself by positioning Silverlight and other key products as the technologies used by mainstream media and major corporations.
By investing in Move, Microsoft gets a partner with which to push their NextGen video technology to major media. Among its partners Move counts ABC FOX, and a growing number of international broadcasters. While currently most Move partners use ON2’s VP7 codec, there’s no reason they couldn’t switch to Silverlight and VC-1 at any time.
It’s interesting to consider the Move-Microsoft relationship in the context of larger working relationships with CDN Limelight, design firm Schematic, as well as Disney, FOX and a number of other mainstream media companies. Together these powerbrokers have formed something of an oligarchy in online video player development and content delivery which could become a front for Microsoft and other Adobe competitors.
PaidContent called the group “Stealthy,” in their reporting of the funds, and as someone close to the AdMeld team, I can assure you that has been their intention. Without tipping too much, AdMeld will be leveraging Barokas’ ad operations experience (a veteran AdMonster) to build cross-platform, multi-exchange optimization technology. As their website says, the technology will drive increased ad revenue to publishers.
Yes, I could have scooped everyone with the news. Hell, I wrote the press release and made the phone calls. But alas, I play fair (and have a real job that demands I play as nicely as possible with the real journalists covering our space.)
That said, I’m proud to announce that Tremor Media is going global. The Samwer Brothers, who previously funded global expansion for LinkedIn and Facebook, have made a strategic investment in Tremor Media through their European Founders Fund.
Yesterday, Beet.TV caught up with Tremor CEO Jason Glickman to discuss the global video ad market.
Tremor also announced the addition of Mark Pinney as CFO. Pinney co-founded Real Media and is a former TACODA exec, and one hell of a nice guy to work with.
“We invested in Veodia because we believe that video in the workplace is going to fundamentally change the way businesses interact with their customers, partners and employees,” said Anil Patel, principal with Clearstone Venture Partners in the release.
Veodia does a couple things differently. They own their data centers enabling them to deliver video at very low latency, they have some IP surrounding making archived content immediately available after a live event ends, and they are monetizing the service using a subscription model.
The company has focused on offering a low-cost business solution where live video is already being used or could be useful if made easy enough. There is a paying market for video delivery solutions and Veodia has positioned themselves well to take advantage of it. That said, we’re still early in the game.
Move Networks announced today that they have raised a $46 million Series C round, bringing the total raised since Dec ‘06 to more than $91 millionnearly $70 million. Move currently powers full-episode players for FOX, ABC, Discovery the CW and Oprah.
What will they do with the money? Other than the vague subtitle that “Additional Capital Will Accelerate the Delivery of High Quality Online Television to Tens of Millions of New Users Worldwide,” the press release provides little insight.
Much of the money will be likely put to use improving network reach and infrastructure so the next time Oprah gets 500,000 concurrent viewers it goes off without a hiccup. And the company will likely bolster its sales and engineering staff enabling them to provide better support and additional services for their existing large clients.
Said Bill Gurley, general partner at Benchmark Capital, which led the round:
Move offers a unique and obvious quality advantage compared to other video delivery options. The best brands with the best content want full control of their experience and their advertising relationships. The Move platform is the only choice on the market that optimizes this strategic imperative.”
Other investors included Cisco, Comcast Interactive Media, and Televisa in addition to Steamboat Ventures and Hummer Winblad Venture Partners which have been involved in every funding round.
According to FYI’s blog this morning, the company has raised $1 million in capital and will be seeking to raise a Series A round in the near future.
For Your Imagination, a New York City based online media company and executive producers of acclaimed web series DadLabs and Break a Leg, has received an additional $1 million in seed capital from ConsensusOne Ventures, LLC and will partner with the firm to raise a Series A round of capital.
CEO Paul Kontonis tells OVW that, “The funding will be allocated to cover our operating expenses for the rest of this year. We anticipate that our gross revenues will continue to grow, we are already at 60% of 2007’s gross revenues, and will provide enough capital to expand into new video content networks that will be revenue generators as well. Given the state of the financial markets we are focusing on growing our business upon a very stable financial base and to further develop our revenue generating channels.”
Video syndicator and pre-roll provider Broadband Enterprises has raised $10 million from Velocity Interactive, a VC firm helmed by Ross Levinsohn, the former President of Fox Interactive and Jonathan Miller, AOL’s former Chairman and CEO.
According to TechCrunch’s coverage, this is the first outside money it is taking. Velocity is putting up the entire A round itself. “They are cash-flow positive and making money today,” says Miller, on tens of millions of dollars in revenues. That’s an easy investment decision.
Tremor Media announced that it has closed a Series B round of funding of $11 million. The round was led by Canaan Partners and Masthead Venture Partners, both of which led Tremor’s prior round of funding. This financing raises the total investment in the company to $19.4 million, including the previous round of $8.4 million that closed in September of 2006.
“Tremor has not only proven its vision for the online video advertising market, but has excelled in executing on that vision,” said Warren Lee, principal at Canaan Partners. “With the video advertising market growing rapidly and expected to surpass $3 billion by 2010, few companies understand the market as well as Tremor Media, which has quickly established itself as an industry and technology leader. Canaan is thrilled to continue its support of Tremor Media as it expands the reach of its innovative platform to a greater number of advertisers and publishers worldwide.”
Tremor Media will use the funds to accelerate strategic growth plans, continue to extend its leadership position in online video advertising, expand its product offering to advertisers and publishers with new video ad formats and publisher tools, and enhance the flexibility of its technology platform to quickly respond to trends in the online video ad industry.
Disclosure: I am the Sr. Director of Marketing and Communications for Tremor Media
