Something is definitely stirring over at video recommendation/discovery provider Taboola, which we last covered a year ago. I’ve had multiple sources in the Israeli VC community insist that the company has closed a multi-million round of financing, with Evergreen Ventures Partners being the primary investor. Additionally, while following the US Elections in its final month I also happened to spot Taboola recommendations on CNN.com’s videos. Both the company and Evergreen are keeping tightlipped on any funding round or a CNN deal.
Taboola has kept a low profile since its founding in 2006. I am told that the gross majority of the employees are technologists with strong mathematical and Israeli military backgrounds.
Taboola’s flagship product ViDiscovery is described as follows on the company’s site:
Taboola ViDiscovery™ moves beyond “one-size fits all” answers and matches videos one viewer at a time. Utilizing it’s breakthrough patent pending mathematical technologies that was built from the grounds up to deal with online videos, Taboola predicts what are the best subsequent videos for each viewer to watch on your site . Taboola’s proprietary patent pending technology works in three steps:
- Video Context – Analysis of video context independent of any associated text.
- Viewer Dynamics – Anonymously studying the viewing patterns of viewers while they view videos on your site.
- Personalized Matching – Using the aggregated knowledge from the analysis of your videos and your viewers’ viewing pattern to match every viewer with personalized video recommendations.
To see it in action on CNN.com, go here and press the “Videos Like This Tab” on the video window.
If there indeed a deal with CNN it would serve as a major indicator that the company’s video recommendation/discovery technology packs a real punch. CNN would then join the company’s growing client list which includes the likes of aniBoom, 5Min and Sclipo.
We’ll keep a close eye on Taboola and update on any official funding announcement.