Akimbo, the online video provider that never seemed to establish an identity, has closed its doors. The sudden move is surprising, given that the site raised $4 million in funding less than three months ago.
Akimbo launched in 2002 as a hardware-based VOD company. Using a hard-drive equipped settop box, users could download a variety of shows from 200 content partners. In October 2005 the company shifted directions and introduced Akimbo for Media Center, which did away with the hardware and allowed users to use Akimbo through a plugin on compatible computers. Finally, last February, the company reinvented itself once more, and became a whitelabel video service provider.
Given Akimbo’s multiple personalities, it’s not surprising that it has run into trouble - but why give up after only three months in a new space? The company has seen management issues (the former CEO left, and disagreements apparently arose after his replacement with Thomas Frank). But that still doesn’t explain why the company would give the whitelabel space such a half-hearted effort.
According to VentureBeat, the entire staff has been laid off, save for three members who are staying on to facilitate the company’s shutdown. The company had raised $56 million over multiple rounds of funding, with investors including AT&T and Cisco. Akimbo has been added to the Deadpool.
Got to be able to get something for the domain, I would imagine an adult entertainment outfit would give their right arm to get this and set up with a legs sub-domain…yeah, I know, but it made me laugh
The content providers should use Youtube instead of relying on companies like this. It is their fault, if they partner with Youtube they can do a great job. Instead they are greedy and this is the consequence for them.
I wonder if this sudden departure has anything to do with ZillionTV. Crazy days for online video.
Our daily internet video show, Beach Walks with Rox (http://www.beachwalks.tv) was 1 of 5 videoblogs that were invited by Akimbo to be distributed to their set top boxes. We were with them for less than a year and never saw any traffic from their service.
Their system was closed, we had to create special .WMV files, and except for one engineer that left a while ago (who was a fan of our show and constantly helped us even though it wasn’t his job and with whom we remain great friends) their customer support staff was unhelpful and not at all knowledgeable. Their set top boxes were constantly on the fritz.
We predicted they’d shutter over a year ago. I believe that’s when they did die. They just didn’t know it because they had all that funding.
^
Just because you didn’t see any traffic from akimbo doesn’t mean that it was their fault. Hawaiian beach walks around exactly for everyone.
But yeah, this is such a shitty idea its amazing.
$56m?? The website does not feel like $56m and that should have told the story from the very outset.
In all seriousness though online video maybe the next big thing but the fate of Akimbo and others tells me the road is not paved with gold…
There is no money in online video. Unless you sell your company to Google
Where’s the rest of the money?
Why do the Crunchbase funding numbers never seem to match the article’s numbers?
Hey their web site says they are still hiring.
The “Business Development Director” position sounds very promising!
wow, the deadpool is getting kinda crowded. Time for expansion.
Peter
do you follow me @ http://twitter.com/peterurban
Thats express the expansions of this industry…
Marcelo
Frm a deal sheet found a Maiden Lane dumpster:
Assets of Akimbo to be acquired and merged with Prostrate LLC, to form new horizontal play.
@13 Nice
@3 May ZigglyTV over-rotate and execute a painful flop into the same pool Akimbo just entered.
Just saw a presentation on tudou.com - China’s YouTube. Yeah, China’s outside of the TechCrunch sweet spot, but Todou’s traffic, trends, business model and product set would shift perspectives on a lot of what’s covered here.
What amasses me more then being able to bankrupt a company with over $56 million of funding is how you can wind down a company that received funding less then 3 months ago. Surely the new investors (Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, and Zone Ventures) cannot me happy about investing $4 million into a company that 3 months later declares bankruptcy. Surely legal action will follow since those investors must either have been mislead and/ or been give false promises.
woa….how do i link to this conversation in the forums?
Sorry to be spamming. At any rate, we’ve been looking at Akimbo for a while too…similar thoughts at I rest my case
It’s fascinating how this company was able to raise so much money. Give me $1 million and I can create a real money making company from it!
I hope the VC’s could justify their funding to the pension funds and their dul diligence. I recall KPCB, Draper all invested heavily.
Akimbo also recently launched and shut down an adult VOD site called CarnalTV.com. Their ads appear on home.heatseek.com.
#21, losing on well thought decision is one and not doing enough due diligence is another.
anon
who knows what way the market is going to go? anyway, solid technologists/team would be a good gamble. Who could have predicted youtube (and all flash video plays, as an entire category) would capture all the eyeballs? And its still growing as MSM (mainstream media) has piled on. Remember when all the networks forced you to watch their cheesy little Real or other propietary player requiring active-x plug-in or whatnot? I do. They kept forcing you to do this until well after youtube got rolling…
nicholas,I agree you
This closure has nothing to do with saturated VOD market.
This closure has nothing to do with the sky falling.
The MS Media center deal was the dumbest ‘distractor’ I’ve ever personally witnessed.
http://deancollinsblog.blogspo.....-dead.html
I’m sure one day someones going to write a book about how something so far ahead of it’s time (but not too far - so thats not the reason), went so very very wrong.
Cheers,
Dean Collins
http://www.Cognation.net