Qwilt Inc., a provider of pioneering video-infrastructure products that are enabling the online-entertainment revolution, has raised $24 million in two rounds of funding from Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Crescent Point Group and other investors. The company, founded in 2010 by veterans of Cisco Systems and Juniper Networks, helps Internet-service providers more efficiently and cost-effectively deliver high-quality video to their customers.
Qwilt's board of directors includes Yuval Shahar, former chief executive of networking company P-Cube (acquired by Cisco), who serves as Qwilt's chairman; Ohad Finkelstein, partner with Crescent Point, a Singapore-based firm focused on investments in Asia that is a backer of Tudou.com, known as the YouTube of China; and Giora Yaron, a serial entrepreneur who was chairman of Mercury Interactive Corp.
Qwilt CEO Alon Maor, who co-founded the company with Yaron, Shahar and Dan Sahar, said, "The explosion of Internet video viewed through all types of Web-enabled devices, from smartphones to iPads, calls for new technology to help the consumer get the best possible viewing experience, and to help carriers and service providers optimize their networks for that."
According to Maor, video now represents about 40% of all Internet traffic, and is projected to quadruple by 2015, when video is expected to make up more than two-thirds of all online activity. Streaming videos from the Netflix service alone make up 30% of Internet traffic during peak evening hours today.
Qwilt is headquartered in Redwood City, CA and has its R&D center in Hod Hasharon, Israel.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on October 23, 2011
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