Ex-Viacom Execs Sink Money Into Internet TV Startup Veoh
Internet TV startup Veoh Networks tapped two more media moguls as investors – former Viacom CEO Tom Freston and former Viacom Entertainment Group CEO Jonathan Dolgen – who join Michael Eisner and Goldman Sachs in backing the online entertainment venture.
Veoh did not disclose the amount of funding from Freston’s consulting and investment company, Firefly3, and Dolgen.
Veoh, founded in 2004, closed a third round of $25 million in funding in August. In addition to lead investor Goldman Sachs, Veoh’s investors include Eisner’s Tornante Company, Time Warner, Shelter Capital Partners and Spark Capital.
“As Internet television is becoming an increasingly large part of viewers’ media experience, it’s important for traditional and new media companies to work together to deliver the most engaging content possible,” Veoh CEO Steve Mitgang said, in a statement. “These new team members, along with our existing advisors, will help us build the bridges between historic and emerging media business models that are necessary to drive even more innovation and greater variety in Internet Television.”
The Los Angeles-based company said Veoh.com attracted 18 million unique users in August, a more than fourfold increase from 4.4 million in February.
Veoh.com features video from 85,000 content publishers, ranging from Paramount Pictures to the NCAA. A separate service, the free VeohTV application, acts as a digital-video recorder for Web video.
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