Mobile video streaming app Qik has raised $6.4 million in new funding, according to an SEC filing.
Participants in the Series D round at least include Marcus Ogawa, Managing Partner at Quest Venture Partners, and Peter Loukianoff, co-founder and Managing Partner at Almaz Capital Partners. All other names listed on the filing belong to Qik executives: CEO Vijay Tella, co-founder Bhaskar Roy, co-founder Nikolay Abkairov and co-founder Ramu Sunkara.
Qik last raised a $5.5 million Series C round in July 2009 from Quest Venture Partners and CampVentures and other investors.
“I feel strongly that mobile video is on the cusp of exploding into the mainstream,” board member Ogawa had said at the time.
How right he was. At the beginning of 2010, Qik had 600,000 users. By the end of the year, that had grown by greater than a factor of eight to five million users.
Back during the time of Qik’s Series C, Apple had yet to approve video streaming apps for the iPhone. These days, not only has Apple created its own video calling service for iPhone 4 with FaceTime, but third-party developers like Qik are now free to build video streaming apps for the iPhone. Skype just launched a revised iOS app that includes free mobile video calls as a primary feature, even for older iPhones that lack the front-facing camera.
Oddly enough, reports surfaced today--a day after Tella filed his Form D with the SEC--that Skype has acquired Qik for around $100 million. Neither company has yet to comment on the news, but the sources that spoke with SFGate say Skype will probably make the announcement this week in Las Vegas at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
And yet, if the news were to be confirmed, I would be neither surprised nor disappointed. After testing out Skype’s video calling feature yesterday, I can safely say that it wasn’t the best live video experience I’ve had on my iPhone 3GS. Acquiring Qik would help Skype bolster its mobile video team in one fell swoop. But then, $100 million seems a bit pricey for just a talent acquisition. Plus, the timing is just bizarre; who raises funds at the same time as being acquired?
We'll have to wait on official word for this one.
The report outlined four areas as a guide to help startups to sell into these systems
Read more...
Steven Loeb
Flyte delivers mechanotherapy transvaginally to the pelvic floor
Read more...
Steven Loeb
The country will need an additional 203,200 RNs each year until 2031 to fill staffing shortages
Read more...
Steven Loeb
Startup/Business
Joined Vator on
Qik is a little piece of software that enables you to stream videos directly from your phone to the Web. Use it to stream engaging videos to your friends in Facebook, Twitter, etc. or as your camcorder to capture entertaining and special moments. Qik enables you to share moments of your life with your friends, family and the world - directly from your cell phone!
Keep your world in the know, share a laugh, tell engaging stories. Just point your cell phone and stream video live to your your friends on Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, etc. OR use your cell phone like a camcorder and stream hours and hours of video without worrying about storage on your cell phone.
