Sky invests in You.i TV ahead of NBCU’s AVOD launch

Comcast-owned Sky is investing in video app development software company You.i TV ahead of NBCUniversal’s planned 2020 launch of a new ad-supported streaming video service.

The investment is part of a larger You.i TV Series C funding announced in November 2018. David Beazley, director of software engineering at Now TV, Sky’s online streaming service, will join the You.i TV board.

“The backing of Sky, alongside our existing strategic investors, highlights the fact that You.i TV is at the forefront of the trend solving the world of device fragmentation as consumers demand content everywhere,” said You.i TV CEO and Co-Founder Jason Flick in a statement. “With the support of this unparalleled group of strategic investors we look forward to fueling the expansion of You.i TV’s global footprint, developer community, and reimagining the ad experience”.

Beazley added in a statement, “Sky and You.i TV share a vision to connect customers to great content, via easy, frictionless user experiences. Through this investment, both Sky and You.i TV will be able to share learnings and gain insights into how world-class viewing experiences can be easily replicated across multiple devices."

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Sky and You.i TV did not announce any sort of customer relationship. But, the placement of a Now TV exec on You.i TV’s board suggests that the investment could be a step toward You.i TV’s video experience platform being involved in some capacity with the development of NBCU’s upcoming streaming service. Comcast has said that NBCU intends to use Now TV’s existing technology as a basis for building its new service.

You.i TV specializes in building experiences for content delivery across multiple platforms. The company recently announced support for React Native, an open-source development framework pioneered by Facebook.

You.i TV’s $23 million funding round last year was led by Causeway Media Partners, and existing investors WarnerMedia, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors and Vistara Capital Partners also contributed.