| MUMBAI:
US media conglomerate Disney is making strides in China through Steamboat Ventures,
which was established a few years ago to invest on behalf of the firm.
It has invested
in CTS Media (Click To See Media). The Hong Kong based firm provides in-stream
video advertising technology and services. CTS
Media has secured $8 million in Series B funding. The round was led by a $5 million
investment from Steamboat Ventures. Concurrent with the investment Steamboat Ventures
MD Benjamin Xu has joined CTS’ Board of Directors. The venture capital firm
Draper Fisher Jurvetson co-invested in the round, together with returning investor
Sequoia Capital China, which led the Series A funding. China
had 137 million net users last year, according to the quasi-governmental organization
China Internet Network Information Centre, and a large number of those eyeballs
are turning to Internet television for programming not offered on local TV. The
new funds will enable CTS to accelerate its growth and expand its business model,
bringing the company’s robust and innovative technology and services to a
wider range of Internet video content providers, broadcasters, advertisers and
consumers. Xu
says, “Advertising through in-stream video is an increasingly important tool
for advertisers for brand and product marketing in Asia and across the globe,
and CTS has the innovative technology and services to drive explosive growth in
this area. Given its leading edge technology, strong management team and unmatched
partner relationships, the company is ideally positioned to accelerate its expansion.” CTS
CTO and co-founder Steve Liu says, "We are gratified by Steamboat’s
vote of confidence in our technology and service capabilities and the enormous
opportunity our business model represents. “CTS
has worked to develop a technology platform that speaks directly to user experience
and advertising effectiveness by giving advertisers more efficient ways to target
users, and more comprehensive ways to monitor campaign performance, while at the
same time enabling content providers to deliver seamless integration of advertising
into broadband video and audio. We look forward to developing this technology
platform further following this Series B funding.” | 
