Michael Litt, CEO of Kitchener, Ont.-based online video startup Vidyard.Handout
Digital video marketing startup Vidyard has raised its biggest tranche of venture capital yet – $35-million (U.S.) – as it announces another year of tripling revenues.
Kitchener, Ont.-based Vidyard – which provides a platform for hosting and analyzing the performance videos used for marketing and sales – has raised a total of $60-million since 2011, when it participated in Silicon Valley's famed Y Combinator accelerator program.
Leading this Series C round is Battery Ventures, the busy Boston-area fund that has already contributed this year to deals worth more than $250-million. Previous backers Bessemer Venture Partners, OMERS Ventures, iNovia Capital and Salesforce Ventures are also participating.
Vidyard CEO Michael Litt said the cash came as a result of conversations that began months ago.
"They looked at our total addressable market and saw the company can IPO and become a really big business, or we could build a multi-multibillion-dollar business and have a huge impact on organizations all over the world," Mr. Litt said.
"Vidyard can help businesses realize the full potential of video, not just as a content medium, but as an incredible source of business analytics and customer insight," said Michael Brown, a general partner with Battery, in a release.
The deal is one of the first sizable venture investments of the year in Canada and comes after 2015 saw venture capital hit levels not seen in this country since the peak of the dot-com frenzy in 2002. According to Thomson Reuters, some $2.5-billion was invested in 542 financing rounds, with seven deals running more than $50-million.
Vidyard also released a video to announce the new investment, which you can watch here.
Shane Dingman