Ooyala: Motorola’s New Investment in Social Video
As Motorola Mobility Inc. takes time to ponder the best way to approach Apple’s motion to hold off two lawsuits while the Google merger is finalized, the company is not wasting any time on its own investments. With the company’s strategic investment arm, Motorola Mobility Ventures, they made an investment in Ooyala Inc., the video publishing platform. Terms of the investment as well as the amount were not publicly disclosed.
“The rapid acceleration of companies embracing online video as a way to connect with customers continues to fuel the exponential growth of our company,” said Jay Fulcher, president and CEO of Ooyala.
“The strategic alignment between Motorola Mobility and Ooyala will help us provide video content and service providers with comprehensive services and technology solutions for delivering and monetizing highly relevant video experiences to consumers across all connected devices.”
Ooyala recently raised $22 million in a round of funding led by the CID Group and ITOCHU Technology Ventures, with participation from existing investors Sierra Ventures and Rembrandt Venture Partners. They also partnered with Roku Inc., a provider of streaming entertainment devices for the TV, to allow online video publishers reach viewers in their living rooms, as Ooyala publishers create custom-branded video channels in Roku boxes. Yesterday, they launched Ooyala Social on Facebook that allows users to view and share videos, as well as controlling the number of people able to unlock videos and group-activated screenings.
Additionally users can “like” and loan videos, as well as chat, even if users are watching videos at Ooyala Social. And to further extend their reach in the social scene, they also launched Ooyala Everywhere, a cross-platform technology that delivers professional video across mobile devices, connected TVs and browsers which also allows publishers to monetize videos through rich media ads, subscriptions, and pay-per-view options.
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