Imagine Scores $15M in Funding
Second Round Brings Video-Compression Startup to a Total of About $25M
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 10/30/2007 7:18:00 AM
Video-compression startup Imagine Communications announced Tuesday it has raised $15 million in second-round funding, bringing it to a total of about $25 million.
The funding round was led by venture-capital firm Court Square Ventures (CSV) and included the participation of Imagine’s two previous investors, Carmel Ventures and Columbia Capital. Imagine, based in Cardiff by the Sea, Calif., was founded in 2005 by two former employees of BigBand Networks, Ron Gutman and Doron Segev.
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.
Imagine has developed a system that can intelligently stack multiple video streams (encoded at variable bit rates) into a single cable channel. Imagine claims the technique allows cable operators to deliver up to 50% more video-on-demand content over the same bandwidth. The company has not announced any customers to date, but has said it will commercially launch its first product before the end of 2007.
In June, BigBand sued Imagine, alleging the startup infringed on three of BigBand’s patents related to bit-rate conversion and statistical multiplexing. In response, Imagine called BigBand’s lawsuit "baseless" and categorically denied the allegations.
