Motorola Ventures invests in BlackArrow

LIBERTYVILLE — Motorola Mobility, Inc., a subsidiary of Motorola Inc. through its strategic investment arm, Motorola Ventures, today announced an investment in BlackArrow, a worldwide provider of advanced advertising solutions for New Television platforms.

Motorola's investment represents an extension of BlackArrow's previously announced Series C funding. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Ventures typically invests about $3 million to $5 million.

BlackArrow's advertising solutions address the fundamental shift in the way television audiences now view their favorite programs. The increase in platforms, such as video-on-demand, DVR, mobile devices and broadband, provide consumers with greater choice when it comes to when and where they watch their programs.

These “New TV” options create new opportunities and challenges for advertisers, television programmers and content distributors alike. BlackArrow's technology enables new advertising and business models for content that is increasingly viewed in an on-demand environment.  

“Motorola Ventures invests in companies that accelerate our business strategy and are integral to our overall innovation efforts,” said Harshul Sanghi, managing director of Motorola Ventures. “Motorola's presence and leadership in the video content delivery space will provide significant visibility for BlackArrow within their key markets.”

As part of this collaboration, the two companies will develop integrated addressable media and advertising solutions for set-top boxes and mobile devices, as well as cloud-based, hosted video services and IP video delivery. BlackArrow will use the additional capital from the investment for new product development and worldwide deployment of their Advanced Advertising System to networks and New TV content distributors.