VOD startup Midstream raises $26M
By JEFF BAUMGARTNER
From CED Broadband Direct, August 19, 2002
Fledgling video server company Midstream Technologies
said it raised $26 million in a third round of funding led by
Canaan Venture Partners, a venture capital firm and a new investor
in the Bellevue, Wash.-based startup.
With the latest round Midstream has raised a total of $48 million
- enough for a fully-funded business plan, according to company
President and CEO Ed Huguez.
Other new series C round participants included Frazier Technology
Ventures, ProVen Private Equity and The University of North Carolina.
Midstream’s stable of previous investors include Polaris
Venture Partners, Arch Venture Partners, Xilinx Inc. and Fluke
Ventures. As a result of the third financing round, Mark Mangiola
of Cannan Venture Partners and the former president and general
manager of @Home Solutions, and Richard von Riesen of Frazier
Technology Ventures, will join Midstream’s board of directors.
Huguez said the financing will help pay for the development of
Midstream’s IP2000-series video server and its integration
with set-tops and interactive program guides. Midstream released
the product line in December 2001. Midstream, he added, will also
tap those funds to “ramp up our sales effort,” and market
the company and its products to cable operators and telcos.
So far, Midstream has secured a total of six trials, plus a commitment
for one with a “top 10 MSO,” Huguez said, but declined
to be more specific about which cable and telco providers Midstream
is presently working with.
On the technical front, Midstream’s 2 RU-high video servers
employ dual native Gigabit Ethernet ports, enough for more than
500 concurrent 3 Mbps streams.
In addition to selling equipment directly to operators, Midstream’s
hardware approach might also open up technology partnerships with
other server makers.
“We’re complementary to nCube [Corp.],
SeaChange [International] and Concurrent [Computer Corp.],”
Huguez said. “We have discussions underway…and we’re
open to relationships with and among all of them.”
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