Founder, Chairman, and President Todd Erdley appoints Rob Green as CEO
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. and SEATTLE, June 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — Videon, a leader in edge computing for video, has raised $7.3 million in Series A funding, led by Voyager Capital. The funding will allow Videon to expand its senior leadership, engineering, marketing, and sales teams, enabling it to bring its unique video compute platform to more customers worldwide. Rob Green in Seattle joins as CEO to drive expansion plans and build new partnerships.
Getting live video from source to audience is complex and traditionally requires expensive broadcast equipment or costly third-party services. Videon delivers the freedom to process video at source while combining built-in functions running on its local video compute platform with additional features from the cloud. It makes live video processing and distribution faster, more efficient, and at lower cost. Today, its broadcast-quality, ultra-low latency live video solutions are used in sports, news, emergency services, and houses of worship across more than 19 countries.
With a significant track record in digital video innovation, Videon has continually powered major milestones associated with optical disc technology, HDTV, Google TV, and Chromecast. Videon continues its rich innovation history with the first cost-effective deployment of edge compute power at the source of video.
Working closely with a partner ecosystem that includes Akamai, AWS, Mux, and Vimeo, Videon’s technology is used by customers like LiveX, Techex, and major broadcasters, and top sports leagues to deliver tens of thousands of hours of live video every day. With 70% of all internet traffic being video by 2025 (Cisco, 2021), Videon is ideally placed at the forefront of innovation.
The funding round was led by Voyager Capital, with participation from Arnold Venture Group and leading technology executive, investor, and former Adobe Systems CEO, Bruce Chizen.
“We’re on a mission to revolutionize the live video streaming market by putting the power of live video processing at the source. Our unique technology enables anyone to produce and deliver broadcast-quality video from anywhere to anywhere. With live video being so integral to all our lives, now’s the time to make this technology available to everyone,” says Todd Erdley, Founder, Chairman, and President at Videon. “The funding will enable us to go to the next level in our growth. We are excited to have Rob Green on board as the new Videon CEO. His extensive experience in building strategy for fast-growth technology companies will be a major catalyst for Videon.”
“I’m excited to be the CEO of a company that has achieved so many breakthrough moments in video innovation,” says Rob Green, CEO Videon. “With live video growing exponentially, our new investment comes at exactly the right time. We will leverage the company’s unrivaled expertise, vision, and know-how to enable more people to take advantage of the full potential of live streaming. We’re on a growth journey and this investment will enable us to further cement our pioneering position in the market.”
“I think the biggest disruptors often come at the market from the bottom up, replacing the need for more expensive products. Videon has huge near-term growth potential because its price point makes it possible for literally anyone to stream high-quality, low-latency live video. When you add the potential to also take advantage of edge compute capabilities, you have a breakout opportunity,” said Erik Benson, Managing Director at Voyager Capital, who previously led the Series A venture rounds for Elemental Technologies and MakeTV. “The explosion in live video viewing means that now is the right time for Videon to scale quickly with new investment.”
Videon is the first live video encoding, streaming, and edge computing platform built around on-chip video processing capabilities. It enhanced the use of the compute and video processing power of the Qualcomm Snapdragon chips typically used for the most advanced smartphone solutions and developed IP that uses this power to enable broadcast-quality workflows. Videon engineers created a method of achieving performance levels at low latency that had previously only been possible with far more expensive broadcast-industry specific, and highly proprietary hardware.
About Videon
Videon, the leader in edge computing for video, makes live video processing and distribution faster and more efficient – with lower costs. It gives the freedom to process video at source by combining built-in functions running on its local video compute platform with additional features from the cloud. Videon includes the right tools to develop innovative video applications to handle anything from simple, low latency encoding and streaming to advanced AI-powered use cases.
Getting live video from source to audience is complex and traditionally requires expensive broadcast equipment or costly third-party services. By enhancing the cutting-edge processors normally found in the most advanced smartphones to deliver broadcast-quality video, Videon has created a revolutionary platform capable of game-changing media experiences without the cost and complexity associated with legacy broadcast technology.
Today, Videon is used in 19 countries handling tens of thousands of hours of content each day — ranging from live sports and news for TV broadcasters secondary output to vertical markets such as betting, auction houses, emergency services, drones, and hundreds of other use cases. Designed and built in a state-of-the-art facility in the USA and backed by 25-years of engineering expertise — Videon unlocks the potential of at-source computing to handle broadcast-quality video.
About Voyager Capital
Since 1997, Voyager Capital has focused on first-round venture investments to help entrepreneurs in the Pacific Northwest and California create winning businesses. Built on the team’s extensive experience with startups and its exceptional network across the industry, the firm’s entrepreneur-centric approach accelerates the pace at which companies can build, execute, pivot and scale. Voyager has $520M under management investing in enterprise software, cloud infrastructure and applications driven by AI and machine learning. With offices in Seattle, Wash., Portland, Ore., and Vancouver, BC, Voyager provides its portfolio the unwavering support and stage-appropriate connections needed to disrupt markets and create sustainable competitive advantage.
SOURCE Videon Labs
