Ripple TV raises $4M more for in-store television
Ripple TV, which places digital television displays inside stores to deliver targeted advertising, has raised $4 million in new funding.
El Segundo, Calif.-based Ripple is one of a host of companies behind the televisions you see in coffee shops, bookstores, restaurants, and elsewhere. Ripple says it plays a mix of national news, sports, and local weather, combined with (of course) targeted ads in locations such as like Borders, Noah’s Bagels, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, and Tully’s Coffee. Competitors include Channel M and Kleiner Perkins-backed Danoo. (For more on the this market, take a look at VentureBeat writer Dean Takahashi’s report on the competition for the retail display market about a year ago.)
This seems like the kind of advertising that could take a hit during an economic downturn. In announcing the financing, Ripple TV says 2008 was its best year yet (it launched in 2006) but offered few details, except that it reaches nearly 10 million “upscale” consumers every month. That’s far fewer than the 100 million consumers Channel M reported to Dean.
The new funding comes from previous Ripple backers Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Trinity Ventures. Ripple has raised a total of $26 million, according to VentureWire.
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About the Author, Anthony Ha
Anthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.
