Video data startup closes $7 million funding round to expand its TV discovery and audience targeting technology.
Boxfish, the video data startup company out of Palo Alto, Calif., has raised $7 million in a Series B funding round to continue its expansion beyond second-screen apps and into data discovery and audience targeting for the main-screen TV.
As first reported by GigaOM, Atlantic Bridge led the latest funding round for Boxfish. Samsung Corp. and existing investors T-Ventures and Naya Ventures also participated. Since its founding in 2010, Boxfish has now raised more than $10 million in total.
The Boxfish technology captures and analyzes every word spoken on 1,000 television channels in real time. Initially, the company used the data to build second-screen TV guide apps with highly detailed show information for better video discovery. However, Boxfish has also worked on an API, which it is using to extend its platform to consumer electronics and TV service provider customers.
There is no shortage of competitors in the TV discovery and recommendation engine business. Companies such as ThinkAnalytics Ltd. and Jinni Media Ltd. have already racked up some impressive customer wins, while Rovi Corp. and Tribune Media Services Inc. (TMS) still largely own the traditional TV metadata market. (See ThinkAnalytics Thinks Hollywood and Jinni Powers Comcast X2 Recommendations.)
Boxfish, however, is planning to move further into the advanced advertising arena in addition to guide-based discovery and recommendation. The company wants to help service providers track viewing behavior through digital video recorders and use that information to better target ads to individual consumers.
Boxfish says that more than 100 companies are currently using its API, and it counts AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T), DirecTV Group Inc. (NYSE: DTV), and TiVo Inc. (Nasdaq: TIVO) among its customers. Samsung is also using Boxfish to support some of the new features in its latest smart TV models. With the new funding round, Boxfish is looking to hire more talent and expand further beyond the US market.
— Mari Silbey, special to Light Reading
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