Venture Capital Firms

VC Firm, General Catalyst Partners Leads $6 Million Funding Round for Boxee

Founded in 2007, the internet television and video provider, Boxee announced today that it has received a $6 million funding round with General Catalyst leading the funding. Other investors who participated in this funding round include the company’s existing investors, who include Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures. Along with this round of funding, Boxee also announced that Niel Sequeira, partner at General Catalyst, will join the company’s board of directors.

Founded in 2007, Boxee is the brainchild of Avner Ronen, who is also the founder of Odigo Messenger, which was later sold to Comverse Technology, Inc. Boxee is a media software developer that develops media software for the internet based on open code. On the company site, Boxee advertises itself as providing a new way to enjoy entertainment on your TV and PC. Boxee has a unique application that allows users to take what ever video or entertainment that is on the net, download it to their PC and then watch it on their television set in the living room, making internet entertainment fun for the whole family.

The team seems to be very happy to have General Catalyst as a new partner and had stated on its own blog that the reason that Boxee chose to partner with General Catalyst is because the vc firm brings more to the table than money. The people at Boxee wanted a partner that understands the media software industry. Furthermore, Mr. Sequeira and General Catalyst have many years of experience in the internet media industry.

General Catalyst Partners is both a vc and private equity firm that mainly invests in outstanding entrepreneurs who are building excellent companies in the tech industry. General Catalyst Partners was founded in 2000 and advertises itself as a vc firm that is a leader in innovation and industry transformation. Besides the tech industry, General Catalyst Partners also invests in the clean tech, media, communications and wireless, software, and systems industries, should entrepreneurs in those industries have the product or service that would be able to disrupt those markets. Some other companies in General Catalyst’s portfolio include Advanced Electron Beams, LumenZ, Modular Wind, JumpTap, Go2Media, Big Fish Games, DECA, OnForce, Roost, ScanScout, and others.

Spark Capital is a vc firm that believes that convergence and disruption generate each other. The team at Spark likes convergence, because this is where they believe that some of the greatest opportunities can arise. Furthermore, Spark likes the disruption, because disruptive companies can upset the marketplace and generate great revenues for the vc firm. Furthermore, the team at Spark Capital believes that motivation, and groundbreaking ideas can spark success both for the entrepreneur and Spark Capital.

Based in New York City, Union Square Ventures is a vc firm that primarily invests in early stage companies that are in the media, marketing, financial services, telecommunications, and healthcare industries. Having been around for over 17 years, Union Square Ventures has invested in over 120 companies. Some other companies in Union Square’s portfolio include 10gen, AdaptiveBlue, AMEE, Bug Logs, Clickable, and others.

For more information about Boxee, click here.

Comments