Imagine Raises $15M

SAN DIEGO -- Imagine Communications, developer of the industry's most powerful and scalable digital video platform, today announced the completion of a $15 million Series B round of expansion financing, bringing total venture capital investment in Imagine Communications to more than $24 million. The round was led by Court Square Ventures, a top venture capital firm, with participation by all existing investors including Columbia Capital and Carmel Ventures. The new financing will be used to accelerate Imagine's growth and commercial deployments in digital video markets with its breakthrough VBR/Statmux (Variable Bit Rate and Statistical Multiplexing) technology, which offers 50 percent more bandwidth and improved video quality of digital video signals.

"The timing of this funding is critical as service providers launch and scale HDTV, VOD, SDV (Switched Digital Video), IPTV and other advanced PersonalizedTV™ services and applications. These services will become key for operators to compete in an environment that includes Cable, DBS, Telco and Wireless service providers," said Imagine's President and CEO, Jamie Howard. "As the demand grows for these new services, Imagine's solutions will allow operators to rapidly deploy and scale while delivering optimal video quality with bandwidth efficiency."

The company also announced that James B. Murray, Jr., the managing general partner at Court Square Ventures, has been appointed to its board of directors.

Howard continues, "I am thrilled to welcome Jim Murray, a highly respected leader in the venture capital community. His business savvy and extensive experience will be a strong addition to our world class board of directors."

Imagine Communications