Aereo, a US-based company looking to bring broadcast television to internet subscribers, secured $20.5m in series A funding on Tuesday in a round led by internet company InterActiveCorp (IAC).
Joining IAC in the round are venture capital (VC) firms FirstMark Capital, First Round Capital and Highland Capital Partners, VC fund High Line Venture Partners, and several angel investors.
Apart from IAC, all were investors in Aereo’s $4.5m seed round last April, raised under its previous name of Bamboom Labs. Additional seed backers included microfund SV Angel, while Lauder Partners, the investment vehicle for Gary Lauder, the founder of interactive TV company ActiveVideo, is also an investor.
Aereo provides a television streaming service available on any device with an internet connection that grants access to all US TV networks and local channels, and which comes with 40 hours worth of programming through its cloud-based digital recording service.
From next month, the service will be available to New York-based users, who will have the chance to sign up for a 30 day trial. Thereafter, Aereo will price its streaming facility at $12 per month.
In conjunction with the funding, Barry Diller, chairman of IAC and ex-chief executive officer of Paramount Pictures and Fox, is joining the Aereo board of directors.
Diller said: "Aereo is the first potentially transformative technology that has the chance to give people access to broadcast television delivered over the internet to any device – large or small – they desire. No wires, no new boxes or remotes, portable everywhere there’s an internet connection in the world – truly a revolutionary product."