ViaClix is one of 65 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2010 event taking place this week. These companies do pay a fee to present, but our coverage of them remains objective.
ViaClix aims to solve the problem of getting web content to your television. With its unique set-top boxes, the company promises to deliver the best of the web to your TV -- including online video, chat, e-mail, and web access -- along with targeted advertising for regular TV content.
The company claims that its technology can integrate with any TV system, including cable, satellite, and IPTV. The company offers several products: A small, home-router-sized TV-Link just transmits video from a computer to any TV. Two more capable set-top boxes bring web content to TVs but also allow users to create channel guides that combine broadcast TV and web video.
ViaClix's technology also exists as a chip-level component, so other set-top box manufacturers could license its patented technology.
As for advertising, ViaClix has plans to combine web-like ads with broadcast television. For example, if someone is using a particular brand of cell phone on a TV show that you're watching, you'll be able to select the phone like a web link, and learn more about it while continuing to watch the show.
The company competes with other services like Vudu and Boxee in terms of bringing web video to your television, but nothing currently aims to integrate web content with broadcast TV as much as ViaClix.
The Los Gatos, Calif.,-based company raised $4 million in seed funding from a South Korean investment firm, and has raised additional funding from private investors. Here's a video interview by Dean Takahashi with Karthik Ranjan, vice president of sales and marketing at ViaClix.