Online video publishing company Ooyala has gotten a big new backer. Motorola Mobility announced Tuesday that it has invested an undisclosed sum into Ooyala through its investment arm, Motorola Mobility Ventures.
While the amount was not disclosed, Ooyala has previously raised $44 million across four rounds of funding from Ron Conway, Sierra Ventures, Rembrandt Venture Partners, CID Group, and ITOCHU Corporation.
The announcement comes shortly after Ooyala launched its new cross-platform viewing solution, Ooyala Everywhere, which allows content owners to distribute their videos across several different platforms, including tablets, smartphones, connected TVs, and browsers. Viewers are authenticated through Facebook Connect and can switch between devices as they watch a video through Personalized Playback. For example, a user can start watching a video on an iPad, stop, and then pick up where they left off on their Google TV.
Ooyala Everywhere also includes Ooyala Social, which lets Web video distributors and studios make their videos available on Facebook. The service allows fans to watch, share, rent, and purchase videos, and even hold live chats as they watch. Additionally, Ooyala Social lets content owners to create group activated “screenings,” which allows users to unlock content only when a certain number of people log on to watch.
Some big names have already signed on to use Ooyala Social, including Miramax.
"Motorola Mobility continues to drive toward delivering converged, multi-screen experiences," said Wallace Pai, Motorola Mobility’s VP of corporate development and ventures. "We share a common vision with Ooyala, and look forward to building on the synergies between our two companies."
Ooyala currently has over 1,000 customers who reach some 100 million viewers a month. Approximately one billion streams are delivered each month.
The announcement comes just weeks after Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola for a hefty $12.5 billion. The acquisition has not yet been cleared by regulatory approval.
