Local leaders powering the online video boom
Here are some Cambridge players in the video space:
Akamai Technologies Inc. With its vast network of servers delivering Internet content, Akamai has stepped up its video-streaming business. The company, which has been transmitting video since 2000, rebranded its service as Akamai Media Delivery and purchased Nine Systems, a steaming media tools maker, last year for $160 million.
While most of Akamai's business continues to be delivering Web pages, software applications, and other content, Internet video is becoming a growing part of its mix. Last weekend, it streamed the Live Earth concerts to MSN to raise awareness of global warming. It employs about 1,200 people, including 650 in Cambridge.
Brightcove Inc. Started in 2004, the company makes software tools that let people watch video on its site and the sites of partners, from major broadcast networks to independent producers of niche content. It also markets syndicated video programs and helps advertisers use video to target consumers.
The company's video player, installed on its customers' websites, helped launch the presidential campaign of Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, last winter. In January, Brightcove, with about 125 employees, including 100 in Kendall Square, closed on a $59.5 million funding round led by AllianceBernstein, Brookside Capital, and Maverick Capital
Choice Stream Inc. The six-year-old company provides the engines that make recommendations to viewers visiting sites of its customers: portals like AOL and Yahoo, download services like Blockbuster Online, and television providers like Comcast and DirecTV.
Crunching data culled from viewers' past video orders or ratings of videos they've watched, ChoiceStream software serves up recommendations for new videos as well as music and television programs. The company, funded by General Catalyst Partners of Cambridge, has grown from 65 to 100 employees in the past year.
EveryZing. The company formerly known as PodZinger rebranded itself this spring and launched a search engine for finding video and audio content. EveryZing uses speech systems originating at BBN Technologies to convert words spoken on videos into searchable text.
The company has begun generating advertising revenue hosting video on its own website, while marketing its search technology to help news and entertainment sites attract viewers to content that can be tied to narrowly targeted advertising. EveryZing, with offices close to BBN near Fresh Pond, has about two dozen employees.
Maven Networks Inc. Founded in 2002, the company has been selling video publishing systems, including video players, that enable customers to set up networks of Internet television channels on their websites. Maven technology, for example, powers College Sports TV, a CBS-owned network of 110 channels focusing on teams at sports-oriented schools such as Boston College and Notre Dame.
Backed by venture capital firms like General Catalyst, Accel Partners, and Prism Venture Partners, Maven has raised $30 million in three venture rounds. It has 80 employees, including 60 in Cambridge.
ROBERT WEISMAN 