To accelerate OTT video efforts and roll out of enhanced content discovery and innovative features, Verizon announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the technology and software that underlies Vessel's online video subscription service.
Co-founded in 2013 by former Hulu CEO Jason Kilar, Vessel raised more than $134 million to date from investors including Amazon founder and CEO, Jeff Bezos.
"At the heart of this transaction is the Vessel technology, product and team that we have built. These three things will be married with Verizon’s ambitions in online video", wrote Kilar and Vessels's CTO, Richard Tom in a blog post.
Verizon said that Vessel has developed smart video platforms that provide experiences that match today's viewer demand.Today, Verizon's multi-platform video strategy is driven by unmet customer and advertiser needs and matches the trends of increasing wireless video traffic and decreasing large bundle demand.
Verizon said that it is committed to providing content from the industry’s top creators on a mobile-first distribution platform both on and off the Verizon network.
Chip Canter, GM of Verizon Entertainment
When we examined and evaluated all that the Vessel team has executed to date and their technical strengths in areas of content discovery, recommendation, OTT subscription management and user experience management we were able to identify a number of ways this was a smart pairing.
Richard Tom, Co-founder and CTO at Vessel
We are incredibly excited to have the opportunity to help shape the future of video on a dramatically larger scale with Verizon. We are grateful for their confidence in our technology, product and team as well as their commitment to the innovation ahead in online video.
