Ooyala’s Fulcher: Traditional TV Providers Have A Lot To Gain From IPTV Methods

Earlier this month, streaming video distributor Ooyala raised its fifth funding round -- $35 million from Telstra Applications and Ventures Group, the investment arm of Australia’s telecom giant, Telstra. In addition to giving Ooyala a big opening in Telstra's home country, the move also signaled a new level of importance for Ooyala to try to attract more traditional TV content distributors to its streaming delivery and analytics system. We spoke to Ooyala CEO Jay Fulcher about the company's general goals and how it sees the digital video ad market evolving.

AdExchanger: The company has raised about $79 million since opening its doors about five years ago. Why did you decide to raise $35 million now?

JF: This is probably the final fundraising we’ll do as we continue to process of getting the company to scale and profitability. In particular, the funding was done to cement the work we’re doing with Telstra. The value in that deal is that not only does it help with international expansion, but they’re an important service provider and a great partner.

What makes Telstra a great partner?

They have a global TV strategy that rests on being a provider of digital TV technology and reaching people with their content, either through traditional TV distribution or IPTV. After the telephonic deal, we felt we had an opportunity to expand in that space and broaden our abilities.

This announcement was about understanding that people are watching TV in a different way. It’s not just for the living room. The commercial agreement with Telstra is putting us in a great position to help a film studio or service provider deliver content and advertising on top of it.