Startup nation’s new high tech companies continue to get bought out by large foreign companies.
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The Israeli startup RayV, which specializes in streaming high-quality video to computers and mobile devices, was purchased by Yahoo for an undisclosed amount, according to an announcement Yahoo made on Friday. RayV will be absorbed by Yahoo’s Tel Aviv research and development team.
The acquisition fits into Yahoo’s new business strategy of offering original video content such as television programming and news reports.
In a posting on its Tumblr service, Yahoo stated that, “The [RayV] team lives and breathes video, and have become industry pioneers. This deal demonstrates our dedication to accelerating our video strategy and boosting our underlying technology infrastructure in the space.”
Yahoo’s chief marketing officer Kathy Savitt said in a statement, “In today’s on-demand entertainment environment, live experiences are the only ones that we all share together, at the same time. Together with Live Nation, we are excited to bring millions of fans together to share these moments through the new Yahoo Live experience.”
RayV’s website is now simply one page with a statement from the company about the buyout. “We are excited to announce we are joining Yahoo’s Cloud Platforms and Services Team!” it declares.
The statement gives a personal account of the history of RayV and how it built a “revolutionary video distribution platform that would provide a better video experience for viewers over the internet, while easing the distribution process for content creators.”
Founded in 2005 by its chief technology officer Omer Luzzatti and its head of business development Ori Birnbaum, RayV had received $16 million in funding from investors such as Facebook and Accel Partners, but had not yet begun formal operations.
Omer Luzzatti has over 20 years of experience in algorithm research and development. From 1991 to 2001 Omer was in charge of algorithm research at VocalTec, the first Voice over IP company, where he pioneered the integration of video into the first Internet Phone and contributed to ITU H.323.
Ori Birnbaum has 15 years of experience in international business development and is considered a pioneer in online marketing and advertising. In 1996 he founded one of the first interactive agencies in Israel, and as an executive director at DC group High-Tech practice, incubated and founded several companies including a leading global advertising and affiliation network.
Prior to DC Group Ori held Executive and board positions at Hotbar, Cellectivity and Giza Venture Capital where he focused on seed investments in the Internet space.
