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At Least $477 Million Raised By Private Online/Mobile Video Companies In Q1 '11
Private online and mobile video-related companies around the world raised at least $477 million in Q1 '11 providing more evidence of intense investor interest in the space. Of the total, approximately $340 million was raised by international companies, with approximately $137 million raised by U.S. companies. The international total was dominated by Softbank's $250 million investment for a 35% stake in China's Synacast Corporation, which operates the "PPTV" online TV service. The other significant international financing was Orange's 58.8 million euro (approximately $83 million) investment in video aggregator Dailymotion, for a 49% stake.
In the U.S. 15 financings were reported, with almost 80% of the amount collectively raised by 6 companies: SnagFilms ($10M), Auditude ($11M), Kaltura ($20M), boxee ($16.5M), Adap.tv ($20M) and TidalTV ($30M). As has been typical in prior quarters, all of these companies are involved in or rely on online video advertising in one way or another.
Q1 also produced at least 15 online/mobile video M&A deals, the most since VideoNuze began tracking the market nearly 2 years ago. The focus of these deals was varied and occurred both internationally and in the U.S. In the former category, examples included Amazon's acquisition of remaining shares of LOVEFiLM (the "Netflix of Europe"), AOL Europe's acquisition of video distribution network goviral and Prague-based KIT Digital's rollup of KickApps, Kyte and Kewego. In the U.S. some of the noteworthy deals included Cisco's acquisition of video encoder Inlet Technologies, YouTube's buyout of independent video producer Next New Networks, Tremor Media's acquisition of mobile video ad firm Transpera and CBS Interactive's acquisition of online video guide Clicker.
Categories: Deals & Financings
Topics: Deals, Financings
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At Least $277.4 Million Was Raised by Global Private Video Companies in Q1 '10
At least $277.4 million was raised by global private video companies in Q1 '10 according to company news releases I received and public sources I track. Of the $277.4 million, $175.4 million was raised by 19 U.S. companies and $102 million by 5 internationally-based companies. The financings ranged in size from $775K for Wistia to $50 million for Qiyi, which is the Chinese search engine Baidu's new online video company. Once again companies across the ecosystem, including content aggregation, chips, advertising, encoding, live streaming and consumer devices were represented.
For the U.S. only, the quarterly total was in the middle of the last 3 quarters, coming in ahead of Q4 '09 ($150.1M) and behind Q3 '09 ($180.9M). Investments in the video space remain very healthy, as the economy gradually recovers from the recession and the opportunity for going public brightens a bit. In the last 4 quarters, U.S. video companies have raised at least $570.2 million.
In addition to private financings, there were a number of video-oriented deals announced in Q1 '10. This list includes the acquisition of Quattro Wireless by Apple for $275 million, Vudu by Walmart for $100 million (rumored), StudioNow by AOL for $36.5 million and Multicast Media by KIT Digital for $18 million. In addition, during the quarter broadband equipment maker Calix went public, raising about $82 million, video ringtone company Vringo filed to go public to raise $64.3 million, independent video producer EQAL bought out its investor Spark Capital and Deluxe bought the assets of MediaRecall. The big negative of Q1 was Veoh's bankruptcy after raising more than $70 million. Looking ahead, Q2 '10 got off to a fast start with Vidyo raising $25 million.
Following are the financings that I tracked during the quarter, the date disclosed and new investors identified if applicable. Links are provided to the companies' press releases, or to relevant media coverage if none could be found (note that I haven't verified media coverage with companies themselves). If I've missed anything or you find an inaccuracy, please post a comment.
U.S.:
Mo-DV ($3.6M) - Jan 5 - Existing investors
Transpera ($2M) - Jan 14 - Existing investors
Beezag ($2.5M) - Jan 24 - Angel investors
Ustream ($20M) - Feb 2 - Softbank (potential eventual investment - $75M)
BrightRoll ($10M) - Feb 3 - Scale Venture Partners, existing investors
IVT ($5.5M) - Feb 9 - Syncom Venture Partners, Barshop Ventures, existing investors
Encoding.com ($1.25M) - Feb 10 - Metamorphic Ventures, angels
Zenverge (Undisclosed) - Feb 10 - Motorola Ventures, existing investors
TidalTV ($16M) - Feb 16 - Comcast Interactive Capital, NEA, Valhalla Partners
YuMe ($25M) - Feb 17 - Menlo Ventures, existing investors
Clicker ($11M) - Feb 18 - JAFCO Ventures, exiting investors
Vook ($2.5M) - Feb 19 - Angel investors
Quantenna ($15M) - Feb 24 - Existing investors
ZillionTV ($10M) - Feb 24 - Qwest
Ubicom ($1.8M) - Mar 8 - Existing investors
SiBEAM ($36.5M) - Mar 9 - Foundation Capital, existing investors
Panvidea ($2M) - Mar 18 - DFJ Gotham Ventures, existing investors
Avaak ($10M) - Mar 22 - Qualcomm, existing investors
Wistia ($775K) - Mar 24 - Angel investors
International:
Siano ($23.5M) - Jan 11 - Existing investors
Guvera ($20M) - Jan 18 - AMMA Private Investment
Voddler ($3.5M) - Feb 8 - Eqvitec Partners
Qiyi/Baidu - ($50M) - Feb 26 - Providence Equity Partners
Videoplaza ($5M) Mar 18 - Creandum, Northzone
Categories: Deals & Financings, International
Topics: Financings
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