• ivi

  Participated · Series D · May 2021

  IVI is a Moscow-based video-on-demand platform targeting Russian-speaking viewers, offering licensed content and live-streaming channels for independent producers. Founded in 2010 by Oleg Tumanov, the company positions itself as a national streaming champion. Management says the new capital will be used to expand the platform’s content catalogue and to foster the creation of original programming. IVI emphasizes creating monetization opportunities for content producers and continuing to enhance service and user experience. The company has raised $434.7 million to date in equity and debt financing. ivi is one of Russia's largest OTT video-on-demand platforms. The company says it holds 42% of Russia’s licensed professional OTT VOD market, about twice the share of the second-largest player. Revenues reached approximately $63 million in 2018. ivi's core product is an on-demand streaming service serving Russian viewers. The company plans to use new capital to further accelerate growth and solidify its market-leading position, particularly by expanding its own content production. In support of those plans, ivi secured a $40 million funding round from a group of investors. Ivi.ru is an online streaming service that offers premium TV, feature and documentary films, cartoons and music videos licensed from major Hollywood studios, music majors, and European and Russian producers. The company says its catalog exceeds 65,000 titles. It reports more than 10 million monthly unique users watching over 50 million videos across its website and mobile apps, up from about 3 million visitors a year earlier. Ivi plans to use new funding to build out its technology and expand its content catalog, improve user experience, and extend distribution to multiple mobile platforms and smart TVs. Management says Russia is the primary market, with possible future expansion into adjacent former Soviet markets under consideration. The service faces competition from YouTube and Rutube and potential entrants such as Hulu and Netflix as Russian broadband adoption grows.

• StoreDot

  Led · Series B · Oct 2014

  StoreDot develops extreme fast-charging (XFC) battery cells and proprietary organic and inorganic compounds that enable full EV charging in about five minutes. The company is shipping cell samples for real-world testing by leading automotive manufacturers and is in advanced talks for integration of its XFC technology into future models. StoreDot is advancing a technology roadmap that includes silicon-dominant XFC cells targeted for mass production in 2024 and extreme energy density (XED) solid-state cells planned for future deployment. The company plans to use new capital to complete R&D and scale up mass production of silicon-dominant XFC cells and to continue progress on XED solid-state cells. Funding will also support ramping StoreDot’s California-based R&D center and commencing scale-up operations in key global locations ahead of full mass production. StoreDot is a Herzeliya, Israel-based nanotechnology company that develops lithium-ion, ultra-fast charging energy-storage technologies for mobile and industrial markets. Led by Co-Founder and CEO Dr. Doron Myersdorf, the company has developed "flash" battery technology intended to enable charging experiences comparable to refueling, targeting a five-minute EV charge. Using this lithium-ion platform, StoreDot is developing a new type of electric-car battery to support next-generation ultra-fast EV charging infrastructure. The company expected first sales of its flash batteries for mobile devices as early as 2019. StoreDot is advancing commercialization and ecosystem partnerships alongside strategic investors to accelerate its product rollout and EV plans. StoreDot is developing a new generation of quick-charging batteries that it says can charge phones and vehicles in five minutes or less by redesigning the anode, cathode, charge transfer and separator. The company combines novel organic and inorganic nanomaterials and holds roughly 50 patents around its technology. StoreDot has not yet commercialized products; it expects mobile batteries to come to market first and for Daimler trucks to be the first vehicle deployment around 2020. Regulatory approvals and new charging standards remain outstanding challenges the company is actively engaging on. StoreDot says the primary remaining risk is execution rather than R&D. The company is led by CEO and co-founder Doron Myersdorf and is based in Israel. StoreDot Ltd. is a Tel Aviv–based specialty materials innovator developing proprietary FlashBattery technology. The company says its FlashBattery can enable electric vehicles to fully charge in five minutes. StoreDot plans to perfect the battery and to develop a powerful charging station, a fast-charging standard, and an integrated FlashBattery management system. The new funding will support creation and commercialization of a dedicated Electric Vehicle business unit, including hiring and additional laboratory space, and aims to build an instantly-charging car prototype. StoreDot originally developed the FlashBattery technology for the smartphone domain and is extending it to the EV market. Financially, the company announced an $18 million financing for the EV unit, bringing total funding to date to $66 million. StoreDot develops bio-organic nano-crystal and quantum-dot technologies aimed at enabling ultra fast-charging smartphone batteries and other electronics. The company demonstrated a prototype that charged from flat to full in 30 seconds, though that prototype used a less-than-full-capacity, oversized cell. Commercialization requires adapting the chemistry and packaging to a full-capacity battery that fits inside a standard smartphone; StoreDot says a fully functioning in-phone prototype will be ready in the second half of 2016 and on the market in early 2017. The company also plans hires and development of additional products using its nano-crystal tech, including BioLED displays, superfast Flash memory and bio-lasers, and is exploring “nano-medicine” use cases such as drug delivery and bio-labeling. StoreDot was spun out of Alzheimer’s research at Tel Aviv University and has positioned its materials as cheaper, non-toxic alternatives for electronics. It closed a $42 million Series B to fund commercialization and continued product development.

No current team members are available.