06 Jun 2006
inLive Interactive raises new funds for European expansion
inLive Interactive Ltd., a pioneer in interactive TV, has secured its third round of financing and is now set to accelerate roll-out across Europe with plans to assess market potential in the USA and Asia.
The €5 million of VC funding has been led by Arts Alliance and 3i, world leading venture capital firm, following financing rounds in 2004 and 2005 from Arts Alliance and business angels. The new funds will allow inLive to step up its sales and marketing efforts and in particular to expand in the UK, France and Spain and prepare for entry into the US and major Asian markets.
Founded in 2005, inLive creates real-time, interactive TV software for broadcasters. Its software applications are developed at its corporate headquarters in Tel Aviv while inLive technology and solutions are distributed to German-speaking Europe from Munich, Germany.
Using its Real time Mass Player Solution®, inLive Interactive allows broadcasters to create a direct improved dialogue with their viewers, increasing program loyalty and generating additional revenue streams. The company also plans to adapt its iTV technology to new platforms, allowing increased functionality for mobile phone users and IPTV operators.
"Our inLive platform is pioneering the next wave of iTV. We have a unique team of software engineers and media professionals that give inLive an edge over our competition" says Andrej Henkler, CEO of inLive. "The iTV market is growing fast and these new funds will help us develop and deliver further top quality solutions that let viewers interact with TV shows from broadcasters and program makers in many markets."
"inLive brings to television the opportunity to engage with mass audiences on an ongoing basis, embracing both fun and serious programme formats.
We are excited to back inLive in a quest to empower television audiences worldwide to have a say" states Thomas Hoegh, Managing Partner of Arts Alliance.
"We, at 3i, have been very impressed by inLive''s progress to date in the German and Italian TV markets. We are convinced that inLive''s scaleable interactive TV platform can take a leadership position in the expanding interactive TV market, forecast to reach over €1bn by 2010 and we are delighted to support the management team to achieve this mission going forward" added Joern Pelzer, Partner in 3i''s Munich office and inLive board member.
In Germany, inLive has created live iTV applications with news channel N24 and an interactive game show "Quiz Time" on Kabel 1 as well as a variety of ongoing interaction strands in existing prime-time shows. In Italy, inLive provides live voting in the weekly RAI sports show "Domenica Sportiva and on Italy''s leading news show, RAI''s "Tele Giornale". InLive also created and helped add the interactive element to the game show "Gossip Quiz" on RAI Uno. Launched in February 2006, the new iTV strands have resulted in high audience response rates and larger audiences.
Notes to editors
About InLive
inLive is focused on creation of the next generation of interactive television. inLive''s solutions allow a large number of viewers to experience the fun and adventure of true interaction with their television programming. Viewer reactions, opinions and votes can be seamlessly integrated into the programming, from real-time voting, quizzes and betting to shopping and auctions. The inLive Real time Mass Player Solution® offers a flexible technical platform that can simultaneously manage large numbers of interactive participants so that a real-time dialogue is established between the viewer and broadcaster which in turn, increases ratings.
In the increasingly interactive world of the internet, TV viewers expect immediate feedback and content tailored to them. The inLive solution is both technically fast and flexible, processing the information from viewers'' telephone keypads and mirroring it on the TV screen in real-time, creating immediacy and enriched content for existing programs. inLive also uses its iTV and programming expertise to create bespoke iTV formats.
inLive''s technical expertise and appreciation of the changing economics of the media industry gives the company a critical edge: inLive offers a one-stop shop for broadcasters looking to enhance their programming, add new bespoke iTV formats, entertaining their audiences and improving bottom line.
Led by Andrej Henkler, CEO, Tuwiah Neustadt, Chief Content Officer and Amit Or, Chief Product Development Officer. InLive has backing from local strategic partners, including Deutsche Telekom''s T-Com, British Telecom and Telecom Italia and private equity finance from Arts Alliance and 3i. inLive is delivering fully integrated iTV - solutions to a number of broadcasters, including Italy''s RAI and Germany''s Tele5, Kabel1, VOX, Sat.1 and N24. For more information, go to: http://www.inLive.tv/
About 3i
3i is a world leader in private equity and venture capital. We focus on Buyouts, Growth Capital and Venture Capital and invest across Europe, in the United States and in Asia Pacific. Our competitive advantage comes from our international network and the strength and breadth of our relationships in business. These underpin the value that we deliver to our portfolio and to our shareholders.
In the last 18 months, 3i''s VC software team have invested in Redlynx (interactive TV), OmPrompt (messaging platform), Mindjet (mindmap visualization), NordNav (GNSS), Udex (RFID), PriceMinister (online auction), Datanomic (data integrity), Cachelogic (traffic management) and achieved successful exits from Searchspace, Pedestal, RedDot, Evant and the IPO of Interhyp.
About Arts Alliance
Arts Alliance is a venture capital organisation focused on technology-enabled services and media. Arts Alliance supports a growing network of entrepreneurs in Europe having advised on over 40 investments since 1996. It was one of the first European firms to invest in seed and early-stage businesses looking to take advantage of the emerging Internet. Specific focus areas are media, entertainment, communication, retail and logistics. Past investments include Lastminute.com (sold to Travelocity), Launch (sold to Yahoo), Spinner (sold to AOL), PlanetAll (sold to Amazon.com), Propertyfinder.com (sold to News Corp), Lovefilm, and Servista.
