MobiTV may only be seven years old, but the company has made a name for itself in the mobile television market. To further its efforts in the space, the company has raised $100 million in Series C funding, which includes support from new investors Adobe Systems and Hearst Corporation.
The company plans to use the funds to support future growth. "Demand for mobile TV is taking off and carriers are understanding the power mobile television has to attract new customers and up sale customers," says MobiTV Chief Strategy Officer and interim CFO Bruce Gilpin.
MobiTV is network agnostic and recently forged into the PC space through a deal with AT&T to facilitate the launch of AT&T Broadband TV. MobiTV is committed to the PC offering, but Gilpin says the company needs to invest in more resources and research for network standards (such as WiMAX and others).
Although it is hard to say what role WiMAX will play in the mobile television sector at this point, Gilpin believes Sprint Nextel's recent decision to adopt WiMAX technology is a good indication that it will be a real contributor. MobiTV has already tested WiMAX technology and performed some trials to positive results. WiMAX makes sense for the industry because unlike broadcast that doesn't allow for interactivity and m-commerce, WiMAX does, Gilpin says. "The home market is moving toward unicast. We think WiMAX is a nice alternative to that because it will allow for broadband-quality speeds as well as interactivity," he says.
MobiTV was already working with Adobe's platform prior to the investment, but is now looking forward to a closer relationship with the company, Gilpin says. "Adobe is a leader in the video player space with its Flash platform," he says. "It is important for us to work together as we develop new and innovative applications for broadband."
MobiTV also is excited about receiving backing from Hearst, given its tremendous reach into the media space, according to Gilpin.
Other investors participating in the Series C round of funding include Oak Investment Partners, Menlo Ventures, Redpoint Ventures and Gefinor Ventures.
MobiTV was founded in 1999. Sprint (now Sprint Nextel) was the first U.S. carrier to launch its mobile television offering. Up until this latest round of funding, the company has raised between $21 million and $22 million.