Open source video platform Kaltura has acquired Tvinci, Israel-based provider of pay OTT TV services, moving the company further towards its goal of a comprehensive end-to-end Pay OTT TV offering.
Kaltura, which raised $47 million in venture capital in February, has already begun integrating Tvinci’s tenology into its OTT MediaGo product. The integrated Kaltura-Tvinci platform enables operators and telcos, media companies, content owners and distributors to reach and monetise every user on every device. The platform supports live, on demand, and catchup services; SVOD, TVOD and ad-based monetisation, social interaction and a personalised experience.
“The acquisition of Tvinci completes our transition from focusing largely on VOD assets and ad-based monetization, to providing an equal emphasis on live/linear programming and an authenticated Pay OTT TV experience,” said Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura Co-Founder, Chairman & CEO, “We are also very excited to broaden our offerings for the service provider markets, and to further boost our social, collaboration, and personalization tools. But beyond anything else we are honored and thrilled to be joining forces with Tvinci’s talented team. Ofer and Ido, along with Avidan and Amir, have built a remarkable company with an amazing product line and a superb culture. We look forward to realizing the great synergy between our strong offerings and teams.”
Tvinci employs more than 60 people worldwide. Their research and development team at the company’s headquarters in Israel will be merging with Kaltura’s Israel-based technology team. Tvinci’s founders, Ofer Shayo and Ido Wiesenberg, and key executives, Avidan Lamdan and Amir Eilat, will be joining Kaltura’s top management team in a variety of global positions.
Tvinci brings a customer base of TV providers from Latin America, EMEA and Asia-Pacific, which Kaltura hopes will accelerate its growth in these regions. Tvinci customers include: Eutelsat in Germany, MediaCorp in Singapore, Liberty Global in the Netherlands, Solar Entertainment in the Philippines and Yes in Israel.
“Since our inception in 2007 we’ve been committed to bringing new TV experiences to viewers worldwide,” said Ofer Shayo, CEO and Co-Founder of Tvinci. “We’ve consistently and successfully predicted market behavior and trends and are exceptionally proud of our illustrious list of customers across the world. This acquisition means that we now have the resources to move into new territories and continue to change the way that the world watches TV. We are very excited to join the experienced team at Kaltura and believe that our technology will bring additional dimensions such as social and personal experiences to their current offering.”
