Smart TV app publisher Flingo announced it has raised $7 million in Series A funding from August Capital. August Capital’s David Marquardt, the sole venture investor and 30-year board member of Microsoft, and Howard Hartenbaum, a founding investor in Skype, will join Flingo’s board of directors.
The company will use the money to continue developing its ability to automatically identify what TV viewers are watching, globally and in real-time, and to get its apps onto more screens.
Once identified, Flingo’s SyncApps technology can integrate contextually relevant streaming video, dynamic advertising and other content, then deliver it to the TV or to the viewer’s laptop, tablet or smartphone where it’s available for interaction without hashtags or lookups.
Flingo already offers users the ability to share program information via Twitter or Facebook with just a click (as pictured), and it will soon be available with A+E Networks’ History and A&E channels.
From the hardware side, Flingo is available on smart TVs and devices from Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sanyo, Insignia, Western Digital and Netgear, which according to Flingo means it’s already on 7.8 million screens in 118 countries.
“Flingo has the potential to build a very large business enabling new experiences around broadcast television,” Marquardt said. “The company already has gained strong traction with the top names in TV programming, consumer electronics, and digital media. We’re excited to be a part of the team.”
Flingo was co-founded in 2008 by CEO Ashwin Navin, who previously was co-founder and president of BitTorrent Inc.
“Our new investors share our vision that Smart TVs represent a unique way to improve the TV viewing experience and an opportunity to unlock new sources of growth in the $60 billion TV advertising business. August Capital‘s involvement brings experience, relationships and resources to us, and we are honored to have David and Howard involved with our company,” said Navin.
Related links:
Press release – http://tinyurl.com/7xh43hs
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VentureBeat – Flingo raises $7M to bring social TV to every network
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