Elemental Fuels Global Ambitions with $14.5M in Telstra-led Financing

Australia's leading telco standardizes on Elemental solutions for next-generation video services

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Dec 22, 2014, 02:01 ET

PORTLAND, Ore., Dec. 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Elemental Technologies, the leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery, today announced that it has secured $14.5 million in series D financing led by Telstra, Australia's largest telecommunications and information services company. Telstra is joined in the round by Sky, Europe's largest entertainment company, and existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Voyager Capital. Elemental will use the funds to accelerate worldwide growth and expand its suite of software-defined video (SDV) solutions to support the whole of the IP video delivery chain.

Elemental secures $14.5 million in financing led by Australian telco leader Telstra. Europe's largest entertainment company Sky is joined in the round by existing investors General Catalyst Partners, Norwest Venture Partners and Voyager Capital.

Elemental CEO and Co-founder Sam Blackman

Elemental will feature its full suite of software-defined video solutions at IBC 2014 September 12 - 16 at the RAI Exhibition and Convention Centre (Hall 4, Stand 4.B75) in Amsterdam.

Telstra is Australia's leading mobile services provider and is committed to advancing mobile networks to manage the future wireless data needs of its customers. Most recently, Telstra has begun the deployment of 4G services on new 700MHz spectrum, in addition to the wide scale introduction of LTE Advanced technology to deliver ultra-fast mobile data speeds. The telco plans to leverage the entire Elemental product line, with a specific focus on Elemental® Delta for its next-generation content delivery services.

Elemental Delta combines just-in-time (JIT) packaging, origin services, intelligent caching, dynamic ad insertion and replacement, and end-to-end encrypted content protection functions in a single solution. The award-winning video delivery platform helps media companies and content distributors reduce content delivery network (CDN) cost and complexity.

"With its software-defined video processing and delivery solutions, Elemental is at the forefront of video delivery and the evolution of content monetization. Our investment in Elemental will enable Telstra to create value for our global media customers," said Mark Sherman, Global Enterprise and Services Managing Director, Ventures, for Telstra. "Elemental's unique offer provides the flexibility and scalability to ensure a great customer experience despite high network traffic demands."

Elemental Delta, which was announced at IBC in September 2014, is already gaining significant momentum and is the company's fastest growing product introduction. In just three months, major telcos, OTT, broadcast, satellite and mobile operators in the US, Europe, Asia, and Middle East have deployed the IP video solution to deliver premium content.

"This investment round led by Telstra, combined with the funding participation by Sky and our accelerated growth to more than 600 customers, illustrates the momentum behind our vision for software-defined video," said Sam Blackman, CEO and Co-founder for Elemental. "We are thrilled to partner with Telstra and Sky, two of the most technologically advanced operators on the planet. Elemental's SDV platform combined with Telstra's world-class wired and mobile networks will set the standard for a new generation of flexible and scalable video services."

"This investment builds on Sky's existing commercial relationship with Elemental and our leading position in internet-delivered video, and enables Sky to tap into the company's experience and expertise in this area," said Emma Lloyd, Director of Corporate Development and Startup Investments for Sky.

About Telstra

Telstra is Australia's leading telecommunications and information services company, offering a full range of communications services and competing in all telecommunications markets. In Australia, Telstra provides more than 16 million mobile services, 7.5 million fixed voice services and 3 million retail fixed broadband services. Telstra has an international presence spanning 20 countries, including China. The company now owns one of the most technologically advanced IP backbone networks in the world, through a number of global subsidiaries. The company has licenses in Asia, Europe and the US and facilitates access to over 2,000 points of presence in 230 countries and territories across the globe.

About Sky

Sky is Europe's leading entertainment company. The group serves 20 million customers across five countries: Italy, Germany, Austria, the UK and Ireland. We offer the best and broadest range of content, deliver market-leading customer service and use innovative new technology to give customers a better TV experience, whenever and wherever they choose. Sky has annual revenues of over £11 billion and is Europe's leading investor in television content with a combined programming budget of over £4.6 billion. The company employs 31,000 people and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (SKY). For more information visit sky.com/corporate

About Elemental

Elemental Technologies is the leading supplier of software-defined video solutions for multiscreen content delivery. Founded in 2006 and headquartered in Portland, Oregon, the company pioneered the use of software-based video processing to distribute video over IP networks. Solutions from Elemental provide the flexibility, scalability and performance required to deliver high quality video via turnkey, cloud-based and virtualized deployment models. Powering video experiences for more than 600 leading media franchises worldwide, Elemental helps pay TV operators, content programmers, broadcasters and enterprise customers bring video to any screen, anytime – all at once. The company has offices in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, China, Russia, India and Brazil. To learn more, please visit www.elementaltechnologies.com and follow @elementaltech on Twitter.