investments

A Los Angeles-based start-up called Philo (in honor of Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the inventors of television) officially launched its flagship social TV service Wednesday.

Here is a round-up of some other recent interactive TV-related stories that we didn't have room for in this issue:

Broadband video platform provider, Brightcove, has confirmed a report by Jessica Vascellaro in Monday's Wall Street Journal that it has raised $12 million in new funding. According to the company, the Series D funding round was led by Accel Partners and General Catalyst, and saw the participation of other existing investors, including AOL, Hearst, AllianceBernstein, Maverick, and Brookside Capital. It says it plans to use the new funds to "expand the company's cash balance sheet and increase investments in key growth initiatives, including expansion in Asia and Europe, the roll-out of new product lines like Brightcove Express on a worldwide basis, R&D innovation, and possible M&A activity."

Video content security and optimization specialist, Widevine, said Monday that it has secured $15 million in new funding from Liberty Global, Samsung Ventures (the venture capital arm of Samsung Group) and an unnamed "third corporation" described in a Widevine press release as "the world's...second largest satellite provider." The company, which has raised close to $52 million to date, says that its technologies are playing a "central role" in the delivery of video over-the-top to Internet-connected retail consumer electronics devices and in the "TV Everywhere" strategies of cable, satellite and telephone companies (note: the "TV Everywhere" distribution model seeks, via authentication technology, to ma

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue (as well as stories from the CTAM Summit in Denver, which our editorial team was unable to attend):

Broadband video platform provider, Ooyala, announced late Monday that it has closed a $10 million Series C funding round. The round--which brings the total raised by the company to date to $20 million--was led by new investor, Rembrandt Venture Partners, and saw the participation of current investors, including Sierra Ventures. As part of the investment, Rembrandt general partner, Sik Rhee, will join Ooyala's board.

The Kudelski Group said Monday that its wholly owned subsidiary, Kudelski Interactive Cayman, Ltd., has commenced a tender offer to acquire all outstanding Class A shares of interactive TV middleware and applications provider, OpenTV, not already owned by Kudelski, for $1.55 per share in cash (note: Kudelski is OpenTV's largest shareholder: it has an approximately 32.3% stake in the company that gives it approximately 77.2% voting control). The bid values OpenTV at approximately $215 million.

Here is a round-up of some other interactive TV-related stories we didn't have room for in this issue:

In a posting on over-the-top-TV specialist Boxee's blog, Wednesday, the company's founder and CEO, Avner Ronen, announced that it has closed a $6 million Series B funding round that was led by Boston-based General Catalyst, with participation by existing investors, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures (note: the company raised $4 million in a Series A round that closed last November). As part of the financing package, General Catalyst managing director, Neil Sequeira, will join Boxee's board.

5min, a US-Israeli company that operates a syndication platform and destination Web site for how-to videos, announced last week that it has secured $7.5 million in Series B funding, bringing the amount it has raised to date to nearly $13 million. The round was led by new investor, Globespan Capital Partners, and also saw the participation of existing investor, Spark Capital. Globespan managing director, Jonathan Seelig, will now join 5min's board of directors.

beeTV, a Milan-based company that offers a platform which it says allows viewers to choose the TV shows they want to watch by presenting them with a "personal content channel" (the platform was unveiled in the US at the DEMOfall 08 conference in San Diego last September--see [itvt] Issue 8.06 Part 2A), announced Wednesday that it has completed a Series B funding round that saw it raise $8 million.