These days, there’s no sense in producing video for just one platform, like cable TV. Media companies also want to get their content out to consumers via the Web, mobile phones, game consoles, video-on-demand networks, and other platforms. The problem is that all of these channels use different video formats, protocols, and resolutions, which makes transcoding and managing video content a pain.
But this week Westford, MA-based Verivue unveiled a system designed to ease that discomfort. It’s a media distribution “switch”—a combination of servers, solid-state storage devices, networking hardware, and media applications inside a single big chassis—that can stream video and other media files to any type of end device over any Internet Protocol-based network.
Aimed at big customers like cable operators, telecom companies, Web video providers, and content distribution networks, the so-called “MDX 9000” series is the company’s first product. It’s been under development behind closed doors since Verivue’s founding in November 2006. Aside from its cross-platform capabilities, the device’s big advantage, according to Verivue, is that it uses Flash-based storage with no moving parts. That means it can stream data faster, and use less energy, than server racks using traditional hard drives.
The first switch in the MDX 9000 series will be available in the second quarter of this year, the company says. The company plans to resell the machines through Arris Group (NASDAQ:[[ticker:ARRS]]), a Suwanee, GA-based maker of broadband networking equipment.
At the same time, the 85-employee company revealed that it has collected a sizable $40 million Series B funding round. Comcast Interactive Capital led the round, which also included Matrix Partners, North Bridge Venture Partners, Accel Partners, and Arris. The round closed last July, according to a company spokesman, but it wasn’t announced until this week. The $40 million comes on top of a $25 million Series A round, provided by Matrix and Spark Capital, that was one of the 10 largest venture deals in New England for the second quarter of 2007.
Light Reading’s Cable Digital News has a good overview of Verivue’s strategy.
