Aframe, British video startup that's setting up U.S. headquarters in Boston, raises $7 million
Aframe is a cloud-based service that helps customers like MTV and the BBC run their video production processes more efficiently. Basically, anyone working on a media company's production team who needs to access raw or edited video can get it, securely, through Aframe. The Aframe service frees media companies from the headache of having to manage their own storage infrastructure for video; all they need is an Internet connection and the editing software they normally use. Monthly pricing starts at $99.
Aframe has now raised $10 million in total, all from European venture capital firms. I asked chief executive David Peto (pictured at right) whether he'd had any any talks with Boston-area investors. He told me he'd met with a few, but all of them "wanted to see us with a proper presence in the U.S. first."
Peto expects the Boston office to hire about ten people "as fast as we can," primarily in sales, marketing, and technical support. "We'll decide on more hires in about nine months," he says. Peto says the new funding will be used to help the company build out its hosting infrastructure in New York and Los Angeles, and acquire new customers in the U.S. and Europe.
Aframe hasn't yet signed the lease for its office space in Boston yet, but a company representative tells me it'll likely be out on Route 128.
"Timing is everything in entrepreneurship," Peto says. "Three years ago, people didn't know what the cloud was. But now, the amount of data people need to store is going absolutely mental. And we are finding that our customers would rather focus on making great content, not all of the technical complexity of managing these huge video files."
Here's a screenshot supplied by Aframe:
The Hive | Local Innovation News
Google founder funds research at Boston’s Voice Health Institute
On Facebook
Subscribe via e-mail
More from Scott
about the blogger
About Scott Kirsner Scott Kirsner was part of the team that launched Boston.com in 1995, and has been writing a column for the Globe since 2000. His work has also appeared in Wired, Fast Company, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, Newsweek, and Variety. Scott is also the author of the books "Fans, Friends & Followers" and "Inventing the Movies," was the editor of "The Convergence Guide: Life Sciences in New England," and was a contributor to "The Good City: Writers Explore 21st Century Boston." Scott also helps organize several local events on entrepreneurship, including the Nantucket Conference and Future Forward. Here's some background on how Scott decides what to cover, and how to pitch him a story idea.
Events
May 16 & 17: Convergence Forum on Life Sciences
Speakers from Bristol-Myers, Millennium Pharmaceuticals, and Biogen Idec talk about the next ten years of the biopharma business. Plus, journalist David Ewing Duncan on radical life extension. (I'm hosting.)
May 22: MIT Sloan CIO Symposium
Chief information officers from Guess, Haemonetics, Intel and other companies talk discuss "architecting the enterprise of the future."
June 25: TEDxBoston
The oldest and biggest of the locally-organized TED events is back, at the Seaport World Trade Center. Tickets are free, but tough to get. Also streams on the web and airs on WBUR.
Browse this blog
by categoryInside Boston.com
- Beautiful backyard retreats
Here are 17 luxurious backyards to drool over - Hot Dog Safari in Boston
The event raises money for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation - 'Star Wars' Day in Worcester
"Star Wars" characters take over the Higgins Armory - 25 free things on Cape Cod
There are many free activities to take in on the Cape -
Plus...