Akimbo, failed video distribution company, tries again, raises $8M
Akimbo, the San Mateo, Calif. company that tried to offer video over a set-top box, but gave up in May last year because no one was buying the box, has launched again with a different management team, $8 million in fresh funding and a different strategy.
The company said it realized it still had valuable technology, and so has refashioned it to market it to video publishes who want to deliver their own video online. The company offers a feature that allows online advertising, but also provides other features to help publishers monetize, including ways to charge for things like pay-per-minute or subscriptions. One content provider to sign up is MavTV.com, from the Mav’rick Entertainment Network, which targets male viewers.
The financing comes from Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Zone Ventures, Blueprint Ventures and AT&T.
Here’s our story from last year, about the former Akimbo chief executive leaving to join Norwest, which happened after the original incarnation of the company didn’t work out (see our coverage).
Cisco, an original investor, did not partake in this revival. AT&T is a new backer.
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Tags: deal, Draper Fisher Jurvetson
About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.












