Opus Backs Jivox

Jivox, a San Mateo, Calif.-based online video advertising platform for local businesses, has raised $2.7 million in seed funding led by Opus Capital. Also participating was company founder Diaz Nesamoney, who previously helped form both Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) and Celequest (acquired in 2007 by Cognos). 

PRESS RELEASE

Jivox, a self-service online video advertising platform for local businesses, today announced that it has raised a $2.7 million seed round of financing led by Opus Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm. This round of funding also includes investments from individual investors including Jivox founder Diaz Nesamoney. The funds will be used to continue development of the Jivox online video advertising platform, as well as to expand the company's sales and marketing efforts.

Jivox was founded in 2007 by Diaz Nesamoney, the visionary entrepreneur behind Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) and Celequest (acquired in 2007 by Cognos). Jivox aims to bring the power of online video advertising to the mass market.

“To date, video advertising has only been accessible to the large brand advertisers due to the high costs of production and placement on TV. The explosive growth in online video content is creating an opportunity for mid-sized and local businesses to harness the power of the internet to reach consumers. Jivox is enabling mass adoption of an advertising medium that is much more engaging and effective than search and display advertising due to its visual impact,” said Diaz Nesamoney, founder and CEO of Jivox. “We're very pleased that Opus Capital and our other investors also see the enormous potential of opening up this market to smaller advertisers.”

“By making online video advertising a possibility for more advertisers, Jivox will accelerate broader adoption of the medium,” said Gill Cogan, general partner, Opus Capital. “As an early investor in Informatica and Celequest, we have had a strong long-term relationship with Diaz, and I've seen first-hand how he has been able to turn an idea into a product, and then evolve the product to stay one step ahead of the changing needs of the market. We are looking forward to supporting Diaz and the Jivox team as they build Jivox into a successful business.”

About Jivox

Jivox, the self-service online video advertising platform for local businesses, gives smaller and local advertisers access to online video advertising by making it easy to create, target and deliver online video ads. The Jivox platform combines a self-service video ad creation tool, proprietary targeting technology, and a growing network of publishers to offer advertisers a complete, do-it-yourself service for online video advertising. Jivox is a privately held company headquartered in San Mateo, Calif. For more information about Jivox, please visit www.jivox.com.

About Opus Capital

Opus Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm with more than $1 billion capital under management, investing in committed, high integrity entrepreneurs building early-stage technology companies. The team has participated in the successful outcomes of more than 80 companies (including 50 IPOs) in the U.S. and in Israel including AirGate PCS, Electronics for Imaging, FedEx, Genesys, Harmonic, Informatica, Precept Software and Vantive. Opus Capital is headquartered on Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California. For more information, visit www.opuscapital.com.