Liberate Technologies Completes $50 Million Financing Round

Strategic Insights -

At a teleconference on May 20, 1999, Mitchell Kertzman, president and CEO of Liberate Technologies, announced that the company had completed a $50 million round of financing from eleven prominent companies in the technology, investment, and cable sectors. The new investors include Comcast, Cox Communications, General Instrument Corporation, Hambrecht & Quist, Lucent Technologies, Marubeni Corporation, MediaOne Ventures, Rogers Communications, Shaw Communications, Sun Microsystems, Inc., and Wind River Systems. This significant funding injection will support Liberate's continued development of its standards-based software platform, enabling the delivery of Internet-enhanced content and applications to a broad range of information appliances.

Key Takeaways:

  • Liberate Technologies is a leading provider of a standards-based software platform for delivering Internet-enhanced content and applications to information appliances such as television set-top boxes, game consoles, smart phones, and hand-held computers.
  • The company has completed a $50 million round of financing from eleven prominent companies in the technology, investment, and cable sectors.
  • The new investors join an existing group of investors from the consumer electronics, ISP, and Internet technology sectors, including America Online, Oracle, Sony, NEC, Sega, Acer Corporation, and Nintendo.
  • Liberate has licensed its software to network operators such as US WEST, America Online, Telewest, Cable & Wireless, NTL, Belgacom, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation's DTI, and Marubeni Corporation's ICC in various countries.
  • The company sells products through its direct sales force and indirectly through distribution partners on a worldwide basis.
  • Liberate Technologies is a privately held company founded in 1996 with corporate headquarters in Redwood Shores, California.

Statistics:

  • $50 million: Amount of financing completed from eleven prominent companies.
  • 11: Number of new investors participating in the $50 million financing round.
  • 1996: Year in which Liberate Technologies was founded.
  • 2: Number of network operators in the United States that have licensed Liberate software for interactive devices (US WEST and America Online).
  • 5: Number of countries in which Liberate has licensed its software (UK, US, Europe, Japan, and others).

Sources:

  • Business Wire, May 20, 1999: "Network Computer Inc. Changes Name to Liberate Technologies; Completes $50 Million Financing Round"
  • Liberate.com (no date provided): "About Us"
  • Various press releases and articles (no dates provided): "Liberate Technologies Licenses Software to Network Operators"