Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » TokBox http://pulse2.com Sun, 27 May 2012 19:13:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 TokBox Raises $12 Million In Third Round Of Funding http://pulse2.com/2010/11/15/tokbox-raises-12-million-in-third-round-of-funding/ http://pulse2.com/2010/11/15/tokbox-raises-12-million-in-third-round-of-funding/#comments Mon, 15 Nov 2010 17:06:08 +0000 Amit Chowdhry http://pulse2.com/?p=37835 Continue reading →]]>
TokBox is a web-based video conferencing service that has raised $12 million in a third round of funding. TokBox is also releasing a new set of APIs for embedding a video conference into other websites and services.

Developers can embed about 20 participants into a video conference directly into a website. “People are always invited to go to silo destination sites for video conferencing, and that’s just not the real world,” stated TokBox VP of Marketing Micky O’Brien. “They want to engage with others around an activity, and they want to do it immediately.”

As web-enabled video is captured by TokBox, it is sent to TokBox servers and compressed. Then it is streamed through Flash. This third round of funding brings TokBox to a total of $26.4 million. This round of funding was led by DAG Ventures with participation from Bain Capital and Sequoia Capital.

[VentureBeat]

]]> http://pulse2.com/2010/11/15/tokbox-raises-12-million-in-third-round-of-funding/feed/ 0 Bain Capital & Sequoia Capital Invests $10 Million Series B Funding In TokBox http://pulse2.com/2008/08/07/bain-capital-sequoia-capital-invests-10-million-series-b-funding-in-tokbox/ http://pulse2.com/2008/08/07/bain-capital-sequoia-capital-invests-10-million-series-b-funding-in-tokbox/#comments Thu, 07 Aug 2008 05:07:35 +0000 Amit Chowdhry http://pulse2.com/?p=4469 Continue reading →]]>
“Consumers are in love with TokBox, and use it to keep in touch with friends and family around the globe,” stated Nick Triantos, CEO of TokBox. “We’re proud of the service we’ve created and how easy it is for anyone to use TokBox. We are grateful that a world-class venture firm like Bain Capital Ventures also sees our potential, and are thrilled to have them join Sequoia Capital as investors in TokBox.”

TokBox is a “live video calling” service.  TokBox and Skype have similar functionality, except TokBox can be embedded on social network profiles, blogs, and personal websites.  TokBox has a “Push to Talk” button that appears on the social network applications.

TokBox has raised $10 million in Series B from Bain Capital and Sequoia Capital.  TokBox’s Series A was $4 million, bringing the video chat service’s total funding to $14 million.  Scott Friend (pictured above), Venture Partner at Bain Capital will join TokBox’s Board of Directors through this round of funding. 

“TokBox has an impressive and very loyal and energetic user base,” stated Friend. “The company is executing well and its service offers consumers a variety of great features that strongly differentiate TokBox from competitors. We are excited to be investing with our partners at Seqouia in a company we believe has the potential to be the next ‘big thing’ in web communication.”

TokBox is run by CEO Nick Triantos, a former Partner at Quantum Technology Partners.  Youniversity Ventures, an early-stage ventural capital firm started by Jawed Karim (YouTube co-founder), Kevin Hartz (early PayPal and Friendster investor), and Keith Rabois (former EVP at PayPal) is also an investor in TokBox.  Roelof Botha, a VC for Sequoia is also on the board of directors for TokBox.  TokBox was founded by Ron Hose.

“Tokbox is uniquely positioned as a leader in the burgeoning consumer video communications market,” stated Roelof Botha of Sequoia Capital. “Their ultra-simple user interface sets a new bar for ease-of-use for consumers to hold video calls with their friends and family around the world. We’re very happy with their growth to date, which is why we are enthusiastic to participate in their Series B investment.”

The beauty of TokBox is that no download is needed to chat.  It is 100% free and it has solid privacy controls.  TokBox is based in San Francisco, Calif.

Related Links:
1. TokBox
2. VentureBeat
3. TechCrunch 
4. TokBox Press Release

]]> http://pulse2.com/2008/08/07/bain-capital-sequoia-capital-invests-10-million-series-b-funding-in-tokbox/feed/ 0 Webcam Social Network, TokBox Has Raised $4 Million From Sequoia And Other Angel Investors http://pulse2.com/2007/10/15/webcam-social-network-tokbox-has-raised-4-million-from-sequoia/ http://pulse2.com/2007/10/15/webcam-social-network-tokbox-has-raised-4-million-from-sequoia/#comments Tue, 16 Oct 2007 03:27:58 +0000 Amit Chowdhry http://pulse2.com/2007/10/15/webcam-social-network-tokbox-has-raised-4-million-from-sequoia/ Continue reading →]]> TokBox Logo“Video communication has never really taken off, despite the fact that people talk about it as a part of the future.”
-Serge Faguet, TokBox CEO

TokBox is a San Francisco, Calif. based video company that focuses on the interaction of live chat through the use of a webcam. TokBox has raised $4 million in Series A from Sequoia Capital recently. The idea behind the site is for users to engage in a deeper interaction by chatting live with each other through embedding TokBox module into their MySpace and/or Facebook profile pages along with personal websites.

Positioning themselves in Silicon Valley, TokBox was able to attract several advisers. Rajeev Motwani, a Stanford professor and an early adviser for Google provided TokBox with some investment and is acting as a counselor. Co-founder of YouTube, Jawed Karim, is also an investor in TokBox and now has a position on their Board of Directors. And Tony Bates, a Senior VP at Cisco is helping TokBox with technology support.

The company was co-founded by Serge Faguet, a former Google employee. TokBox’s new office space will be in the same location as where YouTube got its start.

Information Source:
[1] New York Times: Video Chat Service Aims to Follow YouTube’s Path

]]> http://pulse2.com/2007/10/15/webcam-social-network-tokbox-has-raised-4-million-from-sequoia/feed/ 2