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$10.5 MILLION IN FINANCING FUNDS RIPCODE’S CONTINUED GROWTH
August 14, 2007
DALLAS , Texas (August 14, 2007) – RipCode Inc. today announced that it has raised $10.5 million in second-round venture capital financing. The money raised will be used to expand sales, marketing and development efforts for its appliance-based video transcoding solution. ATA Ventures led the series B financing with participation from Hunt Ventures, Vesbridge Partners and El Dorado Ventures. RipCode closed a $7 million, series A financing round in August 2006.
RipCode’s patent-pending transcoding appliance rapidly processes multiple video files simultaneously for viewing across a variety of media including PCs, mobile phones and iPods®. This consolidated processing enables broadcasters, content syndicators, and user generated video sites to reduce hardware, storage and energy use while offering customers a greater variety of content choices.
“RipCode’s primary focus over the past 18 months has been on product development and early customer engagement,” said RipCode CEO Brendon Mills. "Now, with our second round financing complete, we are positioned to ramp up our sales and marketing operations to address the demand for improved Internet video transcoding capabilities.” IDC expects about 24 million US cellular subscribers and customers will be paying for some form of TV/video content and services on their mobile devices by 2010, up from about 7 million this year. This growth presents new revenue opportunities for carriers, handset developers, and content providers. IDC expects mobile commercial video and television content and services to emerge as a key component of U.S. carrier data services.
Hatch Graham, Managing Director for ATA Ventures said, “We strongly believe that transcoding is the key to unlocking a new chapter in the evolution of online video content and delivery. RipCode’s video processing technology enables the extension of video beyond the PC to any screen, no matter the size - addressing a critical issue facing user-generated content sites, mobile syndicators and content providers. The growth of this market and the strength of the RipCode solution gave us the confidence to recommit beyond our original investment.”
"We recognize the value of technology that enables and enhances the delivery of Web 2.0 content," said Scott Irwin, General Partner, El Dorado Ventures. "Our renewed investment in RipCode underscores our confidence in them, and for what we believe to be a strong demand for a transcoding solution that will deliver the future of video." More information about RipCode’s innovative transcoding solution will be available from their website beginning September 17th.
About ATA Ventures
ATA Ventures ("a team approach") is a venture capital firm focused on seeking out early stage private companies which appear to offer above average prospects for capital growth. With over $350 Million of capital under management, ATA Ventures focuses on Information Technology (IT) and provides seed capital and early stages of financing. For more information, please visit www.ataventures.com.
About Hunt Ventures
Hunt Ventures, LP is a venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage technology companies. Hunt Ventures’ initial investment amounts typically range from $500,000 to $4 million with additional capital available to support future expansion. Hunt Ventures has offices in Dallas and Austin and invests on a national basis with a particular focus on the Texas region. Hunt Ventures has invested across multiple industry sectors including software, communications, and semiconductors. Beyond its capital investment, Hunt Ventures actively works with entrepreneurs to build great companies that address unmet needs in the marketplace. Hunt Ventures is part of the group of privately held companies that are wholly owned subsidiaries of Hunt Consolidated, Inc. ("HCI"). For more information please visit www.huntventures.com.
About Vesbridge Partners
Vesbridge Partners thrives on helping early-stage, leading-edge networking and IT infrastructure companies bring their software and service platforms to enterprise and carrier markets. Vesbridge Partners, headquartered in Boston, Mass., has a long history as part of St. Paul Venture Capital (SPVC), a well established early-stage venture capital firm with a strong track record over the past 15 years of helping finance some of the industry’s most successful technology companies. Additional information can be found at the firm's website at www.vesbridge.com.
About El Dorado Ventures
El Dorado Ventures (EDV) is a leading entrepreneur-focused, early-stage venture capital firm with a 20-year history of success. Entrepreneurs see EDV as a trusted investment partner who shares their vision and helps them succeed by providing ongoing strategic guidance and access to a wealth of industry contacts. With $750 million in capital under management, the firm invests across the information technology spectrum, from semiconductors and systems to communications, software and services, targeting both consumers and the enterprise. El Dorado's early-stage investments have included Cyras Systems, EarthLink, Efficient Networks, Novellus and NuSpeed Internet Systems. Numerous EDV portfolio companies have gone public or been acquired by major technology companies including Ciena, Cisco Systems, nVidia, Siemens, Texas Instruments and Yahoo. For more information, please visit www.eldorado.com.
About RipCode
Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, RipCode is the first company to address video transcoding as a network appliance. Designed to process multiple concurrent, parallel transcode paths, RipCode significantly accelerates the re-purposing of mobile TV, social networking video and studio-based productions. This consolidated, high concurrency processing enables RipCode to lower the physical barriers now restricting content from being viewed on multiple viewing mediums, supplant existing servers and reduce overall hardware, storage, and energy usage. RipCode products support file-to-file, stream-to-stream and an innovative on-demand transcoding for optimal flexibility in mobile and user generated content applications. Founded in 2005, RipCode is privately held and backed by leading venture capital firms including Hunt Ventures, Vesbridge Partners, El Dorado Ventures and ATA Ventures. For more information, visit www.ripcode.com.
RipCode is a trademark of RipCode Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective corporations.
Press Contacts:
Jacqui Galow
Director, Marketing Communications
RipCode
512-583-6947
jgalow@ripcode.com
Brooke Hovey
GCI Group
512-542-2841
bhovey@gcigroup.com
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