The Walt Disney Co., Cisco Systems and Intel Corp. Invest in MovieBeam, Inc.
The Walt Disney Company, Cisco Systems and Intel Corporation Invest in MovieBeam INC.
New Digital Entertainment Venture Launches with $48.5 Million in Series A Financing
Burbank, Calif., San Jose, Calif. and Santa Clara, Calif., February 14, 2006 – The Walt Disney Company (NYSE: DIS), Cisco Systems and Intel Corporation, through its leading investment arm Intel Capital, today announced they have invested in MovieBeam, Inc., a newly formed digital entertainment venture. The series A financing round, worth a total of $48.5 million, includes additional investment from tier-one venture capital firms the Mayfield Fund, Norwest Venture Partners and VantagePoint Venture Partners.
MovieBeam is poised to dramatically improve consumers' movie-rental experience with its movies-on-demand service that debuts today across most major metro areas in the U.S. (see today's related announcement). MovieBeam's unique mix of breakthrough content rights, technology, relationships and assets combined with the expected continued growth in the popularity of consumer electronics devices and alternative content distribution channels is compelling to the new investors.
In the $10 billion U.S. movie-rental industry, 30 million households rent four or more movies per month – 80 percent of them new releases. MovieBeam serves this market and provides a compelling alternative to other movie-rental options. The MovieBeam movies-on-demand service provides instant access to an ever-changing lineup of new releases and popular favorites from virtually every major Hollywood studio. There are always 100 movies available instantly, with up to 10 new titles automatically delivered digitally each week – including select movies in high definition (HD) – via MovieBeam's exclusive, low-cost over-the-air datacasting technology.
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