Teleconferencing Startup Vidyo, Acquired for $40 Million by Enghouse, Is Staying in New Jersey
Vidyo (Hackensack), a growth-stage video conferencing technology startup, announced that it had been acquired by Enghouse Systems Limited (Ontario) for $40 million.
The company’s technology was cool enough to power Google Hangouts when that tool first came out.
NJTechWeekly.com heard from Sam Anidjar, vice president for corporate development at Enghouse, who noted that the Canadian software and services company could share only limited information about the Vidyo acquisition. But he did say that the company would be staying in Hackensack.
According to Crunchbase, Vidyo had more than 250 employees, but the online service doesn’t note if most of the employees were based in Hackensack.
According to a press release, Vidyo is a provider of enterprise-class video software solutions that support visual communications across diverse end points, networks of varying bandwidth and geographically dispersed locations.
The company’s infrastructure software platform leverages patented video routing, management and interoperability technologies to deliver best-in-class video quality, reliability, scalability and security. Delivered in the cloud, on-site or as a hybrid solution, Vidyo enables customers to more efficiently collaborate, interact and engage.
The company offers an API framework that allows enterprise developers to rapidly embed video communications into third-party applications, workflows and a broad range of devices. It also focuses on select vertical markets, particularly healthcare and financial institutions, where video quality, reliability and end-market specialization are essential requirements.
According to Crunchbase, investors had put $170.3 million into the company. They included Sevin Rosen Funds (Dallas), Rho Ventures (New York), Kaiser Permanente Ventures (Oakland, Calif.), Menlo Ventures (Menlo Park, Calif.), QuestMark Partners (Baltimore), Luminari Capital (Palo Alto, Calif.), Blue Cloud Ventures (New York) and Juniper Networks (Sunnyvale, Calif.), among others.
Some analysts expressed surprise at the $40-million price tag for Vidyo, suggesting that Enghouse, which is a public company, may have gotten a bargain. Vidyo’s annual revenue was approximately $60 million.
According to an article in UC Today by Rebekah Carter, the acquisition is a “strong partnership for both companies.” She wrote, “Like Enghouse, Vidyo has a positive reputation in a variety of vertical markets, including the financial and healthcare institutions, where reliability, good video quality, and specialization in end-user support is crucial. Currently, Vidyo systems are deployed across about 120 financial institutions and 400 hospital networks. Additionally, Vidyo is responsible for offering visual communication strategies to the broader enterprise collaboration market, with a range of use cases in IoT, field services, and public safety.”
“Vidyo’s suite of real-time video collaboration solutions extends our enterprise product offering into media and content, and is complementary with Enghouse’s portfolio across all our business sectors,” said Stephen Sadler, chairman and CEO of Enghouse in a press release.
“We’re excited to join Enghouse because of the great product fit and our shared vision” said Michael Patsalos-Fox, chairman, president and CEO of Vidyo. “Enghouse gives us the opportunity to amplify our product innovation, service, and support, making this a great transaction for Vidyo’s customers and partners.”
Asked what’s next for Vidyo, Anidjar stated that the company would “execute the business plan. Vidyo has terrific products and technology, supported by many patents, and highly skilled employees.”
