Flingo has received $1 million from Mark Cuban and Gary Lauder, bringing the TV app company’s total Series A funding to $8 million and helping to bring connected television further into the mainstream. The previous $7 million was led by August Capital in February.
The funding will be used to expand Flingo’s presence beyond its current OEM partnerships with Samsung, LG, Vizio, Sanyo, Insignia, Western Digital, Netgear and others, and to partner with media companies in addition to its relationships with Fox, A+E Networks, Showtime, Warner Bros., CBS, Blip andVimeo.
Flingo‘s SyncApps platform is available on over 8.5 million screens in 118 countries. It identifies what program viewers are watching, globally and in real-time, and integrates contextually relevant streaming video, dynamic advertising and other content. Viewers can then interact with it on a connected TV, laptop, tablet or smartphone by sharing it on social networks or in other ways.
Flingo was co-founded in 2008 by CEO Ashwin Navin, who previously was co-founder and president of BitTorrent Inc.
Cuban’s status as an entrepreneur was established in 1999 when he sold Broadcast.com to Yahoo for $5.7 billion, but now he is probably better known as chairman of HDNet and owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theatres and Magnolia Pictures. “I’m excited to be part of the Flingo experience,” he said. “I truly believe the future of TV is TV and Flingo will be one of the companies out front.”
Lauder is managing director of Lauder Partners LLC, a Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm investing primarily in television/IPTV technology and other web-based technologies.
“We are thrilled by these strategic partnerships with some of the brightest minds in video technology and programming,” said Navin. “Working with Mark Cuban and Gary Lauder, who have an overwhelmingly successful investment record in the technology and digital media industries, and their colleagues in the industry helps shape our product roadmap and engagement model with media companies and operators.”
Related links:
Flingo – official site
Flingo – press release
Lauder Partners – official site
VentureBeat – Mark Cuban believes in social TV, tops off Flingo’s funding
Multichannel News – Flingo Raises $1 Million From Mark Cuban, Gary Lauder
Broadcasting & Cable – Gary Lauder, Mark Cuban Invest in Flingo
Photo by Flickr user RambergMediaImages, used under Creative Commons license
