I cover the intersection of Silicon Valley and Asia.
Silicon Valley mobile video startup Vuclip eyes emerging markets
Vuclip, a Silicon Valley startup that is the world’s largest independent mobile video company, has little interest in the most lucrative mobile markets – the United States and Europe.
The company, which has its research-and-development in Milpitas, is using Silicon Valley technology to serve emerging markets.
“For a long time, companies believed the most monetized consumers were in the United States,” said Nickhil Jakatdar, Vuclip co-founder and CEO. “But with the coming middle class in markets like India, Indonesia and China — they will be very monetizable markets as well. The world is changing very quickly.”
Vuclip, which has raised $35 million in three series of funding from NEA, Jafco Investors and SingTel Innov8, has 45 million unique users a month in 200 countries. Its app and browser-based video technology is specifically developed for devices that sell for $100 or less. It can operate on the latest 4G networks, as well as more primitive 2G networks.
The six-year-old company, which Jakatdar said could become profitable this year, derives income from small fees to watch video and advertising-sponsored “channels” by a consumer goods company.
The first company Jakatdar co-founded, Timbre Technologies, was acquired by Tokyo Electron for $138 million in 2001. In all, he has founded four companies and invested in 20, three of which have been recently acquired by Groupon, Applied Materials and Cadence Systems.
I cover the intersection of Silicon Valley and Asia.
