TokBox provides Web video communications solutions including video chat, video meetings and video conferences. The company has launched OpenTok, a platform designed to enable businesses, entrepreneurs and developers to weave live group video chat into their Web experiences. OpenTok is described as scalable and customizable, accommodating up to 20 chat participants live with thousands watching. TokBox said it will use the new capital to fund strategic growth around the OpenTok launch. The company raised $12M in its third venture capital funding round led by DAG Ventures with participation from Bain Capital and Sequoia Capital. Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco, TokBox is led by CEO Ian Small with a senior management team that includes Micky O’Brien, Nidhi Gupta and Janine Yoong. TokBox offers a Flash-based video chat service that requires no extra plugins and assigns a unique URL to each chat room so participants do not need accounts. The service includes basic social networking functionality and has received positive user feedback for ease of use. To broaden its reach and compete with traditional IM clients, TokBox recently released an AIR desktop client. The company is backed by Sequoia and has raised roughly $14 million to date. TokBox's product positioning targets web chat and IM competitors such as AIM and Skype. As part of its latest financing, a Bain Capital Ventures partner will join the company’s board. TokBox offers browser-based video chat that lets users set up video chat on the fly with no software downloads beyond Flash and the browser. The service handles two-way, synchronous video communication, addressing technical challenges that asynchronous platforms like YouTube never faced. TechCrunch noted a New York Times writeup by Brad Stone and flagged strong reader reaction to earlier coverage. The product’s focus on real-time, two-way video creates distinct engineering hurdles compared with video-sharing sites. Financially, the articles report Sequoia Capital put $4 million into the venture, and Rajeev Motwani and Tony Bates are listed as investors. Roelof Botha from Sequoia is also specifically mentioned as involved in the deal.

Total raised

$26M

Funding rounds

3

Latest round

Series C

Latest activity

Nov 2010