| August 14, 2007 |
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| RipCode Raises $10.5 Million in New Financing |
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| Portfolio Company: RipCode |
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Explosive Consumer Demand for Online and Mobile Video Creates Opportunity for Transcoding Start-Up
DALLAS--RipCode Inc. today announced that it has raised $10.5 million in second-round venture capital financing. The money raised will be used to expand sales, marketing and development efforts for its appliance-based video transcoding solution. ATA Ventures led the series B financing with participation from Hunt Ventures, Vesbridge Partners and El Dorado Ventures. RipCode closed a $7 million, series A financing round in August 2006.
RipCode's patent-pending transcoding appliance rapidly processes multiple video files simultaneously for viewing across a variety of media including PCs, mobile phones and iPods®. This consolidated processing enables broadcasters, content syndicators, and user-generated video sites to reduce hardware, storage and energy use while offering customers a greater variety of content choices.
“RipCode's primary focus over the past 18 months has been on product development and early customer engagement,” said RipCode CEO Brendon Mills. "Now, with our second round financing complete, we are positioned to ramp up our sales and marketing operations to address the demand for improved Internet video transcoding capabilities.”
IDC expects about 24 million U.S. cellular subscribers and customers will be paying for some form of TV/video content and services on their mobile devices by 2010, up from about 7 million this year. This growth presents new revenue opportunities for carriers, handset developers, and content providers. IDC expects mobile commercial video and television content and services to emerge as a key component of U.S. carrier data services.
Hatch Graham, Managing Director for ATA Ventures, said, “We strongly believe that transcoding is the key to unlocking a new chapter in the evolution of online video content and delivery. RipCode's video processing technology enables the extension of video beyond the PC to any screen, no matter the size - addressing a critical issue facing user-generated content sites, mobile syndicators and content providers. The growth of this market and the strength of the RipCode solution gave us the confidence to recommit beyond our original investment.”
"We recognize the value of technology that enables and enhances the delivery of Web 2.0 content," said Scott Irwin, General Partner, El Dorado Ventures. "Our renewed investment in RipCode underscores our confidence in them, and for what we believe to be a strong demand for a transcoding solution that will deliver the future of video."
More information about RipCode's innovative transcoding solution will be available from their website beginning September 17th. |
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