Ooyala lands Yahoo! Japan; investment in APAC region begins to pay dividends

White label online video platform Ooyala is beginning to reap some benefits from its big investment in the Pacific Rim last September, announcing it has signed a strategic technology and distribution agreement with Yahoo! Japan.

The companies will collaborate on a broad-scale initiative to optimize business results for Japanese broadcasters, publishers, advertisers and content creators. The multi-year agreement calls for Yahoo! Japan to standardize on Ooyala technology across all of its properties for initiatives such as cross-platform video delivery, subscription and advertising services.

Yahoo! Japan serves approximately 80 million unique users, or approximately 60 percent of all Internet traffic in Japan. Additionally, Yahoo! Japan serves approximately 40 percent of the online video in Japan. The partnership gives Ooyala access to Japan's largest and most rapidly expanding Internet property.

In September, Ooyala announced it had raised $22 million in a financing round led by two Pacific Rim investors--the CID Group, headquartered in Shanghai, and Tokyo-based ITOCHU Technology Ventures--and current investors, more than doubling the capital Ooyala has raised to $42 million.

Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher at the time said having CID and ITV aboard as investors would help Ooyala grow in the area. CID, which has more than $1 billion under management, is well sourced in the Asian market, Fulcher said, adding that its managing director and founder, David Yang, would be joining Ooyala's board. ITV, meanwhile, is well versed in the Japanese market, and has been watching Ooyala's progress there during the past year.

For more:
- see this release

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