Google Inc. on Friday confirmed via a press statement that they purchased Episodic. Episodic is San Francisco-based online video platform start-up company.
It was big news yesterday for Noam Lovinsky, CEO and Co-founder of Episodic, with the announcement that his company has been acquired by Google. Following a day of April Fool’s Day jokes, that included Brightcove had acquired Ooyala – this deal is no joke, and was actually being signed yesterday. This is Google’s eighth acquisition since September, and eleventh acquisition in nine months. Financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed and Google has released a generic statement saying they are impressed by the Episodic team and share the same vision for video (Though sources tell us it was $25M).
The San Francisco, California-based online video platform (O.V.P) has been around for two years but had kept relatively quiet in stealth mode building the platform, officially launching the complete platform only last October. Last year Episodic focused on delivering video to the mobile devices starting with the iPhone and expanded to the BlackBerry, and even Windows Mobile. Now with the official launch as a “comprehensive solution”, Episodic differentiates itself as an all-under-one-roof platform rather than having a network of partners like its competitors in the space. Customers like Showtime Sports and other national cable networks, web publishers and small and medium businesses, use Episodic, for content management, delivery and monetization.
Both companies’ spokespersons declined to divulge any details regarding the terms and conditions of their deal.
Episodic wrote in its official blog posting about the acquisition: “The Episodic team will join Google and continue its work to bring a great video experience to the Web, mobile phones and IPTV devices.”
It also mentioned that the existing customers will not be affected, and that the company will suspend new sign-ups for its service till transition process completes.
So why is Google buying the startup? The two companies aren’t offering specific details (response to “Why is Episodic excited about joining Google?” on the Episodic website: “Episodic and Google share a common vision for video on the Web.”)
But the Episodic team will be joining Google and likely working on YouTube in some way. Google says it was “impressed by the Episodic team, the vision they have for Internet video, and the progress they have made in bringing a great video experience to the web” and says “Episodic has a deep understanding of the requirements of media publishers, marketers, and enterprises that create their own video-enabled sites and experiences.”
No financial terms of the deal were released. Episodic had raised about $2.5 million in funding and said back in October that it was looking to raise more.
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