Verizon to Buy Technology of Web-Video Startup Vessel
October 26 2016 - 7:55PM
Dow Jones News
By Josh Beckerman
Verizon Communications Inc. will buy the technology of web-video
startup Vessel and will hire most of Vessel's employees.
According to a Vessel blog post, the service will shut down on
Monday.
Vessel, which was led by former Hulu Chief Executive Jason
Kilar, launched its $2.99-per-month service in March 2015. The
company sought deals with content creators to post videos days
before other destinations such as YouTube.
Vessel's investors included Institutional Venture Partners,
Greylock Partners, Benchmark and Bezos Expeditions. As of April
2015, the company had a raised a total of $134.5 million.
The terms of the purchase weren't disclosed. The deal is
expected to close this month. Verizon praised the Vessel's team
strengths in areas such as content discovery and user experience
management.
Verizon said it is "committed to providing content from the
industry's top creators on a mobile-first distribution platform
both on and off the Verizon network."
According to the blog post, Vessel Chief Technology Officer
Richard Tom "will be leading the charge on all things technology,
product and team going forward," while Mr. Kilar's focus "will be
to ensure a smooth transition through the end of this year."
Verizon announced in July that it would buy Yahoo Inc. for $4.8
billion. Verizon Executive Vice President Marni Walden said
Wednesday that the deal "absolutely" still makes sense, despite a
massive Yahoo data breach announced last month.
Write to Josh Beckerman at josh.beckerman@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 26, 2016 19:40 ET (23:40 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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