Friends & Enemies

4:40 PM -- It wasn't all that long ago that SeaChange International Inc. (Nasdaq: SEAC) chief Bill Styslinger was calling out Verivue Inc. for its reliance on Flash for a new line of video switches, arguing in early June that the approach is too expensive. (See SeaChange Swipes at VoD Foes.)

What a difference three months make. It now turns out that any success Verivue finds, particularly in Europe, could end up helping SeaChange's bottom line.

That much is evident after Verivue this week sealed up an integration deal with Dutch video software company eventIS Group B.V. (See Verivue, eventIS Integrate Servers & Software .)

SeaChange, as you might remember, just agreed to buy eventIS in a deal valued at roughly $36.5 million, giving the server and software giant some important help with penetrating the relatively nascent European video-on-demand (VoD) market. (See SeaChange Gets Closer to Comcast, Europe and SeaChange Goes Dutch for VoD Smarts.)

Of course, the eventIS partnership could also help give Verivue a leg-up in Europe, too, and complement what it's already got going in the U.S. with its Arris Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ARRS) partnership. (See Arris Pumps Up Video With Dolce's Verivue and Verivue Surfaces With Comcast Backing .)

Speaking of investments, Verivue has reportedly raised $20 million more via a third round of funding. We're trying to confirm those details with Verivue and find out why the newcomer required another round that would push the amount of raised funds to the $85 million mark.

Verivue announced its $40 million second round back in March, counting Comcast Interactive Capital among its lead investors. (See Verivue Surfaces With Comcast Backing .)

— Jeff Baumgartner, Site Editor, Cable Digital News

Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry’s premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.