It’s International Week for the local Internet video cluster. Yesterday we reported on ExtendMedia’s deal with Bell Canada enabling Canadian Internet users to download movies on same day the films are available on DVD. Now there’s news that Cambridge, MA-based Brightcove is opening a subsidary in Japan.
Brightcove, founded in 2005 by former General Catalyst partner and Allaire Corp. founder Jeremy Allaire, offers a Web-based platform that content owners and independent producers in North America and Europe use to distribute video to customizable players on consumers’ desktops. The new Tokyo-based subsidiary, to be called Brightcove KK, will offer a localized version of the service to Japanese households, more than 50 percent of which have broadband Internet access.
The company said in an announcement that Brightcove KK will be backed by a $4.9 million investment from Brightcove itself and from four Japanese strategic partners: Dentsu, J-Stream, Transcosmos, and Cyber Communications. Many types of enterprise software and services in Japan are purchased through established software distribution channels, and all of the partners except Transcosmos will also be sales agents for Brightcove KK.
“By combining the proven Brightcove technology with the capabilities of our partners, Brightcove KK will give media companies and marketers in Japan a unique solution for implementing their online video strategies and unlocking the potential in the market,” Allaire said in the announcement.
Brightcove may find as soon as it arrives in Japan that it already has competition from its Cambridge, MA, neighbor Maven Networks, which has existing deals with several Asian companies and was acquired in February by Yahoo, which has a strong presence in Japan.
