Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Overlay.TV Closes Second Round Financing

Secures $4.6 Million for Expansion of Premium Content Offering

OTTAWA, CANADA, December 16, 2008 – Overlay.TV, a truly interactive video platform that customizes online video by layering on additional content, today announced a second round financing of $4.6 million. The financing will be used to continue Overlay.TV’s already successful trajectory of monetization for user-generated content, and fund its expansion into premium content and additional brand partnerships. The financing comes from the company’s existing investors: Celtic House Venture Partners, Tech Capital Partners and EdgeStone Capital Partners.

“Video adoption continues to grow on the Internet, but unlike most standard platforms, Overlay.TV has something different to offer: a deeper engagement with a richer online video experience. This is what makes Overlay.TV such a promising platform for both our customers and our investors,” said Rob Lane, CEO of Overlay.TV.

“We also understand that during these tough economic times, companies are looking for ways to optimize spending, and Overlay.TV has proven that we can deliver better results. This second round of financing validates our progression, and will allow us to continue to develop products that encourage consumers to interact with content and brands in new and exciting ways.”

Overlay.TV launched its first general release on September 4, 2008, after a six-month beta program, and since then has announced deals with Nettwerk Music Group, Hollywood Records, KidzBop and Transcontinental Media. Projects include the launch of interactive Uh Huh Her and Sarah McLachlan videos for Nettwerk; Overlay.TV Vocal Booth, which allows fans to sing along with the Jonas Brothers karaoke style; as well as deeper integration of the Overlay.TV platform into KidzBop to provide a white-label solution to power KidzBop video experiences. Overlay.TV has also created interactive content treatments for online magazines Elle Canada and Style at Home. Additionally, Overlay.TV began providing access to an API and SDK which allows further customization of the platform.

To date, thousands of Overlays are already embedded in blogs, web pages, online shops, and social networking profiles. The simplicity and elegance of Overlay.TV’s technology means that anyone posting video content now has a tool to add contextual information directly onto that video content, delivering a more engaging opt-in experience that is very easy to share with others. Overlay.TV also gives authors, content owners and e-commerce providers a measurable return on investment without increasing the costs associated with original video production. Learn more about Overlay.TV by visiting the site at http://overlay.tv or the company blog at http://blog.overlay.tv.

About Celtic House Venture Partners
Celtic House Venture Partners is a leading venture capital firm dedicated to helping entrepreneurs build high velocity technology companies from the ground up. Since 1994, Celtic House has funded over 60 companies and committed over US$500 million—more than 70% to concept-stage start-ups. By working closely with company management, Celtic House has generated billions in stockholder value and proceeds through 17 successful exits to date. Today Celtic House is working with more than 20 active portfolio companies from its offices in Ottawa, Toronto and London, UK.

About Tech Capital Partners Inc.
Based in Waterloo, Ontario, Tech Capital Partners manages $95 million in venture capital. Tech Capital provides seed financing, hands-on leadership, market strategy and operational guidance to early-stage technology companies that have the potential to compete at a global level. Since its inception in 2001, Tech Capital has invested in some of Canada’s most innovative high-tech companies. For more information, please visit http://www.techcapital.com.

About EdgeStone Capital Partners
EdgeStone Capital Partners is one of Canada’s leading private equity firms and has managed in excess of $2.5 billion of private capital on behalf of institutional and high net worth clients. EdgeStone provides capital, strategic direction and business and financial advice to help promising early-stage and mid-market companies achieve their full potential. EdgeStone leverages the resources of its broad business network and ensures an alignment of interests to achieve superior returns for all stakeholders. For more information, visit www.edgestone.com.

About Overlay.TV
Overlay.TV provides an interactive video platform that enables brands and content owners to better engage audiences through video, integrated interactive widgets, content and advertising tools. These tools facilitate better investment in online video, including everything from hyperlinks to video-in-video mashups, as well as end-to-end video platform integration. Overlay.TV is a venture-backed private company. For more information, please visit http://www.overlay.tv.

 

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