JW Player raises $100M to fund further product development

JW Player, a video software and data insights platform, has raised $100 million in Series E funding from LLR Partners to accelerate product innovation.

The company also plans to use the additional funding to expand its global footprint across sales, marketing and channel partnerships and continue to grow and invest in building its team.

The new money funnels in shortly after JW Player’s recent acquisition of VUALTO, a provider of live and on-demand video streaming and digital rights management (DRM) solutions. After that transaction, the company said it saw an influx of sales, especially in the LATAM and APAC regions.

JW Player began as an open-source video player but has grown its APIs and platform to give customers more control over their mobile, OTT and Web video applications. In the last year alone, the company said its video streaming grew by nearly 200% and its live streaming delivery increased by more than 400%.

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“Video has entered into a golden age, and we now live in the Digital Video Economy. By combining our easy-to-use video platform technology with our unique consumption and contextual data insights, JW Player has a distinct advantage in helping customers grow their audiences, create world-class video experiences on any screen, and most importantly, generate more revenue,” said Dave Otten, CEO and co-founder of JW Player, in a statement. “As we enter this next phase, we are thrilled to partner with LLR. LLR’s team brings decades of unmatched support and expertise in growing industry-changing software companies and will undoubtedly help us accelerate our success as we pursue this massive market opportunity together.”

“JW Player has been at the forefront of digital video innovation ever since founder Jeroen Wijering created YouTube’s original video player in 2008. Today, the company offers the most comprehensive technology, advertising and data analytics platform in the digital video ecosystem,” said David Reuter, partner at LLR Partners, in a statement. “We look forward to partnering with the JW Player team as they expand their platform and continue to elevate the way brands can host, stream and monetize video.”