Verismo Raises $17M From Intel, Others for Internet TV

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Internet TV startup Verismo Networks is announcing today that it has raised $17 million in a round of funding led by Intel Capital, with participation from existing seed investors. The funding round comes just a few weeks after Verismo launched a new platform to help cable and IPTV providers launch virtual network services worldwide.

Verismo started out in the consumer set-top box business, but has recently branched out with a product that could enable ISPs and video distributors to offer video services outside of their physical footprint. The new VuNow Internet TV platform will allow service providers to offer linear and on-demand TV services over the Internet without having to own a physical connection to the end user’s home.

We’ve been excited about the idea of virtual network operators for a while, and believe we will see cable companies in the U.S. begin offering over-the-top video services outside of their home footprints sooner rather than later. Indeed, Clearleap CEO Braxton Jarrett, whose company is also helping pay TV providers to offer online video services, expects these types of services to begin cropping up in the next two years.

For Verismo, that doesn’t necessarily mean pitching Comcast on offering services in Time Warner Cable home markets. Instead, it’s pitching the idea of service providers offering international content outside of their home markets. Verismo is already working with a virtual network provider targeting the Greek community in the U.S., and also has deals with providers in India, the Caribbean, Somalia and the Middle East. In addition, Mexican ISP Telmax has begun distributing its hardware as part of its ToTotv offering.

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