Telefonica Digital, a global business division of telecoms giant Telefónica, has acquired the San Francisco-based video communications platform TokBox for undisclosed terms. Five-year-old TokBox had raised $26 million from investors, including Bain Capital Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and DAG Ventures.
PRESS RELEASE:
Telefonica Digital today announced its acquisition of TokBox, the leading video communications platform. The acquisition of TokBox, based in San Francisco, builds on Telefonica Digital’s strategy of driving innovation in its core business of communications, with capabilities that will now extend beyond voice and messaging to live video.
TokBox’s OpenTok Video Platform enables the rapid development of live video-based communications services through the simple addition of video calling into websites and mobile applications.
Telefonica will leverage TokBox’s Platform to enhance the communication services it offers business and consumer customers, adding cross-platform Web-based video communications to its existing voice and messaging capabilities. This will be offered both directly via tailored solutions and through the provision of APIs and applications so businesses and developers can produce their own services. Telefonica and TokBox will work to incorporate video APIs into the BlueVia platform, creating a unified video, voice and text API service with global reach.
Matthew Key, CEO of Telefonica Digital said, “Telefonica is all about empowering our customers through new and innovative digital services. By adding TokBox’s unique capabilities to our communications portfolio, we will allow our customers to leverage the full potential of web-based video communications in their own business models.”
TokBox launched the OpenTok Video Platform in November 2010 with companies such as American Idol, Ford and Diet Coke having used its technology. It has also delivered significant technology innovation, being the first to add video chat to any iOS application and pioneering WebRTC-based video solutions. WebRTC is critical to the future growth of web-based video communications, allowing for video calling to simply and easily be conducted via a web browser without the need to install plug-ins.
“Despite all our progress to date we are still in the early stages of the industry and this is a very exciting opportunity to accelerate the development of the OpenTok platform and rapidly expand its global reach and presence,” said Ian Small, CEO of TokBox. “Integrating our video capabilities with Telefonica existing voice and text offering creates an advanced real time communications suite for Telefonica’s hundreds of millions of customers around the world.”
“Congratulations to Ian and his team for building a platform that captured the hearts of customers and the minds of developers,” said Roelof Botha, Partner at Sequoia Capital and TokBox Board Director. “This is a strong fit for Telefonica’s communications suite and will make it even easier for hundreds of millions of people to connect and collaborate.”
Ian Small will remain as CEO of TokBox and Carlos Domingo, Director of Product Development & Innovation at Telefonica Digital, will join the TokBox Board of Directors and become Chairman of the company. The acquisition was led by Telefonica Digital’s Silicon Valley-based venture investment team.
About Telefonica Digital
Telefonica Digital is a global business division of Telefonica. Its mission is to seize the opportunities within the digital world and deliver new growth for Telefonica through research & development, venture capital, global partnerships and digital services such as cloud computing, mobile advertising, M2M and eHealth. It is also driving innovation in over the top communications under a new umbrella brand called TU and in Big Data through Telefonica Dynamic Insights. Telefonica Digital will deliver these new products and services to Telefonica’s 311 million customers as well as entering new markets. It is headquartered in London with regional centres in Silicon Valley, Sao Paulo, Spain and Tel Aviv. Jajah, Terra, Media Networks Latin America, 48 and giffgaff are all managed under the Telefonica Digital umbrella.
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About TokBox
OpenTok from TokBox is the leading global online video communications platform, enabling the addition of live group video communications into any web property. Incorporating solutions for enterprises, entrepreneurs and developers, anyone with a web presence can harness the power of live video to drive user engagement within their site or service.
The scalable, customizable platform incorporates proprietary quality-enhancing technology and enables high quality video sessions with up to 20 live participants and unlimited viewers. TokBox is headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
SOURCE: Telefonica Digital
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