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| About Us | | | In the News |
In the News
Market Wire | YouTube Receives $3.5M in Funding From Sequoia Capital
Internet Commerce Pioneers from PayPal Reunite to Make Videos Fast, Fun and Easy for Consumers to Create Their Own Personal Video Network
MENLO PARK, Calif. - November 7, 2005 - YouTube, a consumer media company for people to watch and share original videos through a Web experience, today announced it has completed a $3.5M round of private equity funding from Sequoia Capital. YouTube, founded by Internet commerce pioneers from PayPal, has developed a new service that allows people to easily upload, tag, and share personal video clips through www.YouTube.com and across the Internet on other sites, blogs and through e-mail. The service also allows users to create their own personal video network.
This investment will be used to accelerate the company's rapid growth, enhance product development and expand sales and marketing efforts.
"With more and more people carrying around devices that capture video - from digital cameras to cell phones - YouTube is set to become an essential destination for watching and sharing these experiences," said Chad Hurley, CEO and co-founder of YouTube. "We are very pleased by the support of Sequoia Capital. Since our public preview, we are already moving 8 terabytes of data per day through the YouTube community - the equivalent of moving one Blockbuster store a day over the Internet."
Prior to YouTube, it was not easy for people to make video available on the Web. The burden was on the user to support all the media players and the 100s of multimedia formats. YouTube is using its advanced technology infrastructure so consumers can broadcast their videos globally in a fast, fun and easy way.
"We are very excited to be involved with YouTube at a time when consumers are poised to benefit from all the consumer electronics available. The demand for user-generated content continues to grow exponentially," said Roelof Botha, Sequoia Capital partner and former CFO of PayPal. "We've already seen user-generated content blossom in text through blogging, in photographs through services like Flickr and Shutterfly, and in audio through podcasting. YouTube is pioneering the next wave to become Internet's premier video service."
Slashdot | YouTube -- The Flickr of Video?
August 14, 2005
An anonymous reader writes "A new folksonomy website that seems to be catching on is YouTube, a service similar to Flickr, except that it is for sharing and hosting short video clips instead of photos. Like Flickr, its core functionality is implemented in Flash. Videos can be tagged, searched, discussed, etc through a social network. YouTube has developer APIs, RSS feeds, and the ability to embed videos directly into other web pages. The website was recently profiled on TechCrunch as an up-and-coming Web 2.0 application."
TechCrunch Profile
August 8, 2005
YouTube is very much like flickr, but for videos. You can upload videos in a number of different formats ( .AVI, .MOV, and .MPG ). Videos can be of any length, but must be less than 100 mb in total size. Editorial restrictions consist of no nudity and your video must be appropriate for all audiences. For additional requirements, see their help page. The service is completely free to users (publishers and viewers). YouTube converts video to a flash format, and therefore upload and playback is extremely fast. In our tests, videos uploaded significantly faster than in other services.
YouTube is also a sharing network. You can add friends who are also member of the network, and email any video to anyone. YouTube also provides easy to use copy/paste code for emailing and posting on a website. You can also tag your videos, which results in bunching in a very similar way as flickr. Overall, the service is excellent.
The service has recently been launched but seems to have quite a few users who have posted lots of content. Our absolute favorite is Matt Dances around the World. It shows an ex-programmer who's travelling the world and dancing at famous locations - it's awesome and very popular on the site. Other favorites are this and this (that's me in the red shirt. ok, not) (how do people do this?).
I suspect YouTube will be quickly acquired and/or duplicated. We love it.
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