13/10-09   -   Press releases

Leading Online Video Platform Ooyala Raises Series C to Fund Aggressive European Expansion

New and Existing Investors Participated in the Series C Close

Ooyala Inc., the leading provider of end-to-end video platform applications and services, today announced that it has closed $10 million of its series C funding round.

Current investors, including Sierra Ventures, participated in the round. New investor, Rembrandt Venture Partners, led the funding event. As part of the investment, In Sik Rhee, general partner at Rembrandt, will be joining the Ooyala Board of Directors. With this round, Ooyala has raised $20 million.

"Video is the fastest-growing technology segment and the next ‘killer app’", says Jay Fulcher, president and CEO of Ooyala. “Our intelligent video platform is accelerating the convergence of traditional media and the Web. Media and non-media companies are gaining a better understanding of their viewers with the most advanced analytics processing engine in the industry," Fulcher added. "With this round of funding, we will be focused on aggressively growing our international market share and continuing to build industry-leading products."

The popularity of online video has surged in Europe over the past twelve months as more Internet users have access to faster connections. Over 20 per cent of Europe’s 115 million broadband households have watched a film or TV programme online in the last six months. In the UK, Google sites like YouTube and broadcasters’ catch-up TV services have made watching online video a mainstream activity. 4.7 billion online videos were watched in April 2009, an increase of 47 per cent on the previous year.

Ooyala intends to build on the success of its US business and expand its European operations that already support premium media owner clients such as Premiership Football club Arsenal FC. Trevor Diamond, head of technology for Arsenal Broadband Ltd stated: “Having carefully considered the alternatives, we chose Ooyala’s comprehensive end-to-end video platform as a superior service. It enables us to develop new insights into viewer behaviours and leaves us with multiple options as to how we monetise our premium content."

CEO Jay Fulcher and chief technology officer and co-founder Sean Knapp will be speaking at Streaming Media Europe, in London on October 15th and 16th. http://www.streamingmediaglobal.com/europe/index.asp

Since its founding by former Googlers, Sean Knapp, Belsasar Lepe and Bismarck Lepe, Ooyala has been focused on building a profitable business with differentiated technology that can be leveraged by thousands of companies. With the recent addition of Jay Fulcher as CEO, Ooyala is well-positioned to pursue an aggressive growth plan.

"Online video is still the most exciting space on the Web and Ooyala is the most exciting company in the Online Video Industry," said In Sik Rhee. "The management team has done a phenomenal job timing the growth of the industry and building a platform that is integral to the future of media and non-media companies."

About Ooyala Inc.

Ooyala is a video technology company that provides a comprehensive software platform enabling the delivery, management, and monetization of high quality online video content. Its innovative analytics engine and monetization server allow video content owners to drive revenue by maximizing the value of their content. Ooyala has over 500 customers, including 150 global media and enterprise customers such as Warner Brothers, Wenner Media, Fremantle, Armani, Sybase and Electronic Arts.

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