Conviva Leadership
Press Release
SAN MATEO, Calif.—Aug. 25, 2008—Conviva, developer of the first LIVE media platform that enables media companies to deliver an inviting, exciting and uniting online live experience, today announced it has secured $20 million in a Series B round of funding. UV Partners led the round, with participation from Series A investors New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Foundation Capital. The funding brings Conviva’s total amount raised to $29 million and will help the company expand its global platform, accelerate product development, and invest in business development with key customers.
“This investment is a fantastic milestone that validates the leadership team, the value to customers, and the confidence in our ability to execute,” said Carlos Ramón, Conviva CEO and president. “Raising such a fast and aggressive round of funding underscores the confidence in our innovative technology platform and the years of tremendous science that led to its development. In a crowded and cynical market plagued by empty promises, this funding bolsters Conviva’s staying power and will propel us into the future.”
In conjunction with the Series B funding, Dr. Carl Ledbetter, managing director of UV Partners, has joined the Conviva board of directors. Prior to joining UV Partners, Ledbetter was senior vice president, engineering/research and development and chief technology officer at Novell, and was responsible for Novell’s venture fund. Earlier in his career Dr. Ledbetter was president of AT&T’s consumer products division and held senior positions at Sun Microsystems, IBM, and Control Data Corporation.
“I am honored to join the Conviva board of directors and to be part of a team that will revolutionize the live online experience,” said Dr. Ledbetter. “The substantial investment in a
tough economy signifies investor confidence that Conviva is addressing a huge market opportunity.”
“Dr. Ledbetter will be a tremendous asset to the company, as he brings a wealth of technical knowledge, market insight, and proven executive leadership,” said Peter Sonsini, partner at New Enterprise Associates. “Like fellow board member Mike Ramsay, the co-founder of TiVo who fundamentally changed the way we watch TV, Carl is a visionary who will support our scientists and engineers as we transform the live online viewing experience for people around the world.”
Conviva C3 is the world’s first media platform that enables content owners to intelligently and securely manage the distribution of LIVE media and real-time programming online. Built for live media from day one, the platform enables content owners to create a new “virtual living room” audience experience and improve the economics of digital media on the Internet.
“Investors see that the Internet video market has reached an inflection point — it’s a market poised for massive growth yet facing serious issues in meeting demand,” said Adam Grosser, general partner at Foundation Capital. “Conviva has solved the most challenging problem of the Internet: ensuring a LIVE, high-quality, online media experience. By overcoming the broken mechanics of first-generation solutions, Conviva has radically altered the economics for content owners so they can realize new revenue streams by monetizing content never accessible before, differentiate themselves from competitors, and expand their global audience reach.”
All-Star Board of Directors Brings Deep Domain Expertise and Industry Connections
Dr. Ledbetter joins a board of directors that already boasts leading scientists who have been working for more than a decade to solve the problem of delivering high-quality, live video over the Internet, as well as C-level executives from some of the most respected global business execution companies. The Conviva board of directors includes: Carlos Ramón, CEO and president (ex-general manager of Akamai Technologies’ international business, which grew 400 percent under his leadership in just over three years); Dr. Hui Zhang, chief scientist and co- founder (ex-CTO of Turin Networks and professor of computer science, Carnegie Mellon University); Ion Stoica, CTO and co-founder (professor of computer science, UC Berkeley); Mike Ramsay, venture partner, NEA (co-founder and former CEO and chairman of TiVo); Dr. Forest Baskett, general partner, NEA (ex-SVP of R&D and CTO of Silicon Graphics); Peter Sonsini, partner at NEA (former senior executive at VMware); and Adam Grosser, general partner, Foundation Capital (ex-president ofExcite@Home).
About UV Partners
UV Partners, established in 1986 with offices in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, is a leading early-stage private equity investment group. UV Partners helps entrepreneurs develop early-stage concepts into tomorrow’s industry-leading information technology and life science companies. For more information, visit http://www.uvpartners.com.
About NEA
New Enterprise Associates, Inc. (NEA) is a leading venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs create and build major new enterprises that use technology to improve the way we live, work and play. Since its founding in 1978, the firm has followed the same core principles:
supporting its entrepreneurs, providing an excellent return to its limited partners, and practicing its profession with the highest standards and respect. Through its affiliated funds, NEA focuses on investments at all stages of a company’s development, from seed stage through IPO. With approximately $8.5 billion in committed capital, NEA’s experienced management team has invested in over 600 companies, of which more than 160 have gone public and more than 240 have been acquired. NEA has U.S. offices in Chevy Chase, Maryland; Menlo Park, California; and Baltimore, Maryland. In addition, New Enterprise Associates (India) Pvt. Ltd. has an office in Bangalore, India, and New Enterprise Associates (Beijing), Ltd. has offices in Beijing and Shanghai, China. For additional information, visit http://www.nea.com.
About Foundation Capital
Founded in 1995, Foundation Capital is a venture capital firm committed to supporting entrepreneurs and their companies, targeting innovative opportunities in cleantech, consumer Internet and infrastructure; telecommunications and networking; and enterprise software and on- demand services. Foundation Capital funds total more than $1.7 billion. For more information, visit http://www.foundationcapital.com.
About Conviva
Conviva offers the first LIVE media platform that enables media companies to create an inviting, exciting and uniting online LIVE experience. The Conviva platform, called Conviva C3, provides a real-time, intelligent, interactive and secure LIVE video distribution platform. Media executives around the world are working with Conviva to innovate their audience experience to energize their brand, make content pay, and command the LIVE audience. Conviva is headquartered in San Mateo, California.
