If money is the lifeblood of any start-up--or new company that's moved beyond the start-up phase--then the $35 million Ooyala just received is a major transfusion that will juice up its ability to aggressively sell video streaming technology to established MVPDs throughout the world.
That means, the company said, it can enhance its efforts in markets with IPTV is taking off outside the United States.
Telstra Application and Ventures Group provided Ooyala the funding as part of a Series E round in which previous investors Sierra Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners and CID Group also participated.
Telstra Application and Ventures Group is a subsidiary of Australia's largest telecommunications services company and an IPTV pioneer.
In addition to the funding the two companies are working on a further agreement for Telstra to become a major Ooyala software customer as the service provider transitions from traditional video delivery to IPTV throughout Australia.
"The lines between online video and TV are blurring. Service operators everywhere are redefining their offerings for digital, multi-screen consumption," Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher said. "Ooyala has been the driving force the past few years, innovating and helping broadcasters and operators transition their business models to not only maintain but improve the economics of traditional television."
Of course, as has become almost boilerplate for IPTV deployments, the biggest opportunities and the most offerings are in the international market so even a U.S.-based firm like Ooyala has to look beyond its native boundaries.
The company said it will use the new capital to "add scale to its operations outside of the United States, building on its existing footprint in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America" because "over half of Ooyala's business is outside the U.S."
Telstra, which placed Gary Traver, director of Telstra Media on Ooyala's board of advisors, joins a group of reseller partners that include Telefonica and Yahoo! Japan.
"The industry is now standardizing around technology stacks that enable the future of IP-based distribution. With Ooyala's robustness and focus on personalization and profitability, it is becoming the platform on which the next generation of large-scale deployments are built," Traver said.
Telstra knows a little bit about large-scale deployments. Besides Australia, where it operates the largest fully integrated IP network and is one of the country's 20 largest companies by market capitalization, Telstra operates in 14 other countries, including China.
A release said the company will use Ooyala technology to enhance the integration of its current IPTV offerings during what the two companies hope will be a "smooth transition."
For more:
- see the Ooyala release
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