Video on Mobile: Actimagine Raises 3M Euro From GRP Partners
Paris (ots/PRNewswire)
Actimagine, which provides the most advanced video compression technologies, announces today that the Company has raised EUR3 million in equity financing from US venture capital firm GRP Partners (www.grpvc.com). This first round of institutional fund raising will enable Actimagine to accelerate its business development in the USA and Japan.
Actimagine licenses Mobiclip(TM), its patented power-efficient software video codec, which delivers better video quality while reducing power consumption. Mobiclip is a completely new technology, and is therefore not subject to MPEG, MP3 or any other codec licenses. Mobiclip has already been endorsed by major content studios such as Sony Pictures Digital to deliver full-length, full-screen, 30 frames per second movies on 128MB memory cards. Leading handset manufacturers like Nokia and Sony Ericsson have launched marketing campaigns for new smart phones by bundling them with memory cards, powered by Mobiclip, containing full-length blockbuster movies. With Mobiclip, a Nokia phone with full standard batteries runs more than 7 hours of video playback without recharging.
"Mobile video becomes a market reality. We believe that improving the user experience is a key driver to establish successful recurring business models for mobile carriers, handset manufacturers as well as content publishers. On mobile platform, user experience is about valuable contents, higher quality, simpler usage and long battery lifetime. We leverage on our expertise in video on mobile gaming consoles and toys to provide a state-of-the-art video codec for mobile phones. Our ambition is to become the leading video technology," says Andre Pagnac, Actimagine CEO.
"Actimagine has developed an innovative and impressive video technology which can help mobile operators and equipment manufacturers to deliver a truly optimized and complete product offering to a mobile video market that is still struggling to define and perfect a sustainable and profitable business model." says Yves Sisteron from GRP Partners.
In the wider consumer electronics industry, Actimagine's patented technology has already been successfully adopted by key market players. Nintendo Co., Ltd. has licensed Mobiclip to feature 90 minutes of animated classics such as Shrek(TM) or Pokemon(TM) on 32MB cartridges on the Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Advance SP and the Nintendo DS(TM). Fisher-Price uses Actimagine's power-efficient software video codec to provide cartoons on its Pixter(R) Multi-Media toy.
Actimagine also joined forces with Sharp Microelectronics of the Americas to increase video performances for its ARM based portfolio of microcontrollers. By achieving higher video performance without requiring a higher performance processor or increasing overall power consumption, these enhanced SoCs open new possibilities for portable media devices.
About Actimagine
Created in March 2003 by a team of highly qualified engineers and experienced managers, Actimagine Corp is registered in Delaware, USA and currently headquartered in Paris, France. The company has overseas branches in Tokyo and Singapore and plans to open its US office in the very near future. Actimagine provides a most advanced video codec that delivers higher quality and higher compression while using far less CPU power than usual solution and standards.
About GRP Partners
GRP Partners is a venture capital and growth equity firm focused on financing and helping to build companies in business & consumer services, retail & related technology, and financial services & related technology. GRP Partners finances early-stage and late-stage companies that have developed solutions meeting pressing consumer and business needs. Over the course of nearly 20 years, the GRP Partners team has been involved with many companies that have become household names today, such as Costco, Starbucks, PETsMART, Office Depot, Overture Services (now part of Yahoo!), TicketmasterOnline-CitySearch, P.F. Chang's and many others. With offices in Los Angeles and London, GRP Partners manages approximately $650 million on behalf of more than 150 limited partners in North America and Europe.
All trademarks belong to their respective owners. Shrek is a trademark from DreamWorks. Pokemon is a trademark from The Pokemon Company. Pixter Multi-Media is a trademark of Fisher-Price Corp.
Contact
Mathilde Lorenzi
press@actimagine.com
Tel. +33-1-53-30-03-65Contact:
Mathilde Lorenzi, press@actimagine.com, Tel. +33-1-53-30-03-65