Ensequence Hauls $40M in Private Equity
Interactive-Video-Software Provider Eyes Three Largest Cable Operators
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 4/9/2007 8:01:00 PM
Ensequence, a provider of interactive-video software, raised $40 million in third-round funding as it expects to see bigger growth with the three largest cable operators in the United States in 2007.
Vice president of marketing and strategy Aslam Khader said the funding will “allow us to take our deployments to the top MSOs, as well as to address some of the other platforms video is going to,” such as broadband and wireless.
The Portland, Ore.-based company has been working on interactive-TV projects with Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Cox Communications.
The funding, which brings Ensequence to $77 million to date, came from a single private-equity investment firm which has “preferred to remain anonymous,” Khader said. The company’s previous investors include Westbury Partners.
Khader said Ensequence expects to increase headcount 40% in 2007, expanding from 75 people today to 100-110 by the end of the year. He added that the company is in the process of opening offices in New York and Los Angeles.
In addition to the funding, Ensequence expects to announce that it is providing enhanced features for Major League Baseball’s MLB.TV Premium service, an application that allows viewers to watch up to six out-of-market games online simultaneously in a “mosaic” view.
The new version of the application allows subscribers to select which parts of the mosaic the games play; provides alerts when a player comes to bat; and includes an on-demand section with every game from the past three years in complete or condensed versions. “From a baseball fan’s perspective, it’s nirvana,” Khader said.
MLB.TV Premium is $119.95 per year, whereas the regular MLB.TV subscription -- which provides one game at a time -- is $89.95.
