Internet streaming video company BitGravity (DEMO 08) today secured $2.5 million as its first round of venture funding from Allen and Company and Blake Krikorian, the co-founder and chief executive of Sling Media, the maker of the Sling box. Krikorian joined BitGravity's board of directors. SlingMedia, a wholly-owned subsidiary of EchoStar Corp. (NASDAQ: SATS), is a BitGravity customer.
Self-funded since it started two years ago, the Burlingame, CA content delivery network (CDN) plans on spending the new funds on engineering and hiring more sales people, said Mari Mineta Clapp, vice president of corporate marketing.
“BitGravity is redefining the user experience around the quality and performance of content delivery on the Internet and has built an incredible team, a superior network, and an innovative service offering,” Krikorian said in a statement. “Building a network and suite of technologies from the ground up with video delivery at the core has enabled BitGravity to set a new watermark, making live delivery, HD-quality, and interactivity part of the new standard for online experiences. This isn’t your father’s CDN."
Krikorian was named a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum and is on the board of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). He has been recognized as a technology innovator by various technology magazines. He founded and served as CEO of id8 Group Holdings, where he advised Microsoft, AT&T, Toshiba, and Time Warner about product strategy and invested in new product creation. Krikorian was instrumental in defining products and partnerships at General Magic and at Philips Mobile Computing Group, a company he also co-founded.
BitGravity, which transmits high-quality Internet videos that play instantly without buffering time, competes against bigger players Akamai and Limelight. Co-founder and chief executive officer Perry Wu, a venture capitalist earlier in his career, is noted for an essay published last August on VentureBeat comparing an entrepreneur’s funding dilemma to a marshmallow test, a study in which children were offered a choice to eat one marshmallow immediately or wait 10 minutes and be rewarded with two marshmallows. Those that practiced self-control did better financially in life.
During BitGravity's first year, Wu and co-founder Barrett Lyon took no salary and worked out of their homes building an architecture. Year two was focused on engineering and generating revenues.
In March, the company announced Tata Communications of India (NYSE: TCL) will co-brand, resell, and jointly market BitGravity’s technology platform as part of a value-added service in Europe and Asia.
BitGravity in March also hired 18-year technology sales veteran Chris Turner as vice president of worldwide sales. Turner had been vp of sales and support for Intelliden Corp., which provides businesses with tools that manage and secure IP infrastructures. He also was executive vice president of sales and business development for SkyeTek, a maker of modular RFID readers and software.
In April, BitGravity introduced BG Secure, a suite of products that protect copyrighted content from pirating technologies without disrupting the viewing experience.
