MOUNTAIN VIEW, USA - Ooyala, the leading innovator in video streaming, analytics and monetization, today announced it received a USD $43 million investment from Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications company.
Ooyala will use the funds to accelerate engineering efforts focused on innovating its video streaming and analytics platform and to support accelerating growth both domestically and internationally.
In the past year, Ooyala has demonstrated global momentum with new multi-screen video and analytics deployments for major customers including Univision, the leading media company serving Hispanic America, Comedy Central, Shine Australia, Major League Soccer, The British Film Institute and the PGA Tour, building on its success with customers such as ESPN and Bloomberg.
Jay Fulcher, chief executive officer of Ooyala, said, "Telstra's recent investment is a reflection of the massive opportunity they see in the market, and is a great validation of our business model, our performance over the past year and a half, and our team. Its investment will help accelerate our pace of innovation and technology adoption around the world as more broadcasters standardize on our streaming and analytics technology as a means of maximizing their video revenue."
Data from Ooyala's Q3 2013 Global Video Index shows that viewers are increasingly watching highly valuable premium, long-form and live content on all devices. This represents a significant market opportunity for companies like Ooyala that are providing the underlying technology and analytics that enable web video to be delivered optimally on all screens. According to ABI research, web-delivered video providers will take an 18 percent share of a $304 billion global pay TV market in 2018.
Telstra Media Group Executive Rick Ellis said we are living in a multi-screen media environment driven by unprecedented demand and choice. As a result, data consumption across all devices will continue to increase.
"Research shows that by 2017, video consumption will account for up to 90 percent of global consumer traffic on fixed networks, and two thirds of global mobile data traffic," Mr. Ellis said. "Ooyala underpins our plans to deliver personalized video experiences across all screens. Its analytics provide deep insights that drive increased viewer engagement and revenue from video. Ooyala technology will extend our current video content delivery capability progressively over the next months and years."
Last year, Telstra led Ooyala's Series E funding round and signed a reseller agreement to accelerate Ooyala's deployment in the Australian market. This investment further underpins Telstra's commitment to the digital video market and ensures that Ooyala, the leader in this space is sufficiently resourced to execute on customer opportunities in the Australasian market and globally. This investment brings the total amount raised to date to USD $122 million.
