Multiscreen software and navigation specialist Accedo has teamed with HTC Vive on a partnership aimed at accelerating the virtual reality market along with a collaboration that will deliver VR sporting events in tandem with the Australian National Basketball League.

Under the deal, they’ll will produce a series of joint seminars and participate in industry speaking engagements, and to collaborate with “key media accounts” that include the aforementioned basketball effort.

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They said the NBL, which includes eight teams from around the country, attracts more than 750,000 spectators each season, and offers a mix of prime-time games that are televised nationally.

Accedo said it plans to feature its VR solutions next month at the NAB show in Las Vegas.

In a deal that brings more consolidation to the multiscreen video app sector, Accedo and Digiflare have inked an agreement to merge.

Financial terms were not announced, but the combined company will keep the Accedo brand and will be led by Michael Lantz, Accedo’s current CEO. Fredrik Andersson, SVP of business development at Accedo; and David George and Mano Kulasingam, Digiflare’s co-CEOs, will take on senior leadership positions within the merged company.

The deal combines two companies that are focused on multiscreen video services and apps.

Accedo, a Sweden-based maker of multiplatform publishing systems and user interface products, was founded in 2004, and has a customer base that includes Netflix, NBCU, Spotify, Fox, Disney, Telefonica and HBO, among others.

In June, Accedo announced it has secured up to $10 million in additional capital to use toward growth initiatives and to expand product development while also enabling earlier investors in the company to exit. Accedo is also a licensee of the Reference Design Kit, the preintegrated software stack for video and data gateways being managed by Comcast, Liberty Global and Charter Communications (via its acquisition of Time Warner Cable).

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Toronto-based Digiflare was founded in 2008, and has a customer roster that includes Bell Media, PBS Kids, Rogers Communications, Charter Communications, Univision, Hearst, Verizon, CW Seed, PBS, Starz, and Vimeo. Of recent note, Digiflare announced it would integrate Penthera’s Cache&Carry managed video downloading platform with its cloud-based video app publishing platform, Videa.

“Accedo and Digiflare share the same vision for our industry and a similar entrepreneurial history,” Lantz said in a statement, noting that the companies have “highly-complementary products, a strong market position, and an impressive portfolio of customers and partners, who will directly benefit from our combined video experience solution offering.”

Accedo, a maker of multiscreen interfaces, said it has landed up to $10 million in additional capital through a partnership with SEB Private Equity of Stockholm that will be used to accelerate growth and expand product development.  

Accedo said the deal will allow earlier investors in the company, including Industrifonden and Acacia, to exit.

Updated: Accedo has raised about $16M in total, an official said.

Accedo also appointed video industry vet James Ackerman as chairman of the board. Ackerman is late of A&E, BSkyB, OpenTV, and the Documentary Channel. Ackerman recently served as executive chairman of Broadway Systems, an advertising management software company that was acquired by SintecMedia in 2015.

“We’re excited to partner with SEB Private Equity to go to the next level, Michael Lantz, CEO and co-founder of Accedo, said in a statement. “They share our vision of the market development and what a company like Accedo can deliver to truly transform the way consumers experience video services. We firmly believe that we’re still only in the beginning of the transformation of video consumption as we know it and we’re looking forward to continue our 12-year growth trajectory in the future.”

“It’s rare to see a transformation of an industry such as what we’re seeing in the TV industry at the moment,” added Ackerman. “The traditional value chain is evolving with new and existing players embracing OTT technologies to reach consumers and monetise video content in new and innovative ways.”

Stockholm-based Accedo has raised $11.27 million, according to CrunchBase. It was founded in 2004. 

Accedo's customers include OSN (a pay TV provider in the Middle East and North Africa); Cinépolis, a cinema chain based in Latin America; Sky Deutschland; and maxdome, an SVOD service in Germany.

Accedo said it has tailored its Application Sphere, an app store management platform, for the Reference Design Kit (RDK), the software stack for IP-capable devices being managed by Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Liberty Global.

Sweden-based Accedo, now one of about 140 vendors, chipmakers and pay-TV operators that have secured RDK licenses, said Application Sphere is designed to handle the requirements of TV devices, including integrated set-tops and smart TVs.

With the license in-hand, Accedo said it will bring its TV app solutions to operators that are adopting the RDK. Among known adopters, Comcast is using RDK-based devices for its X1 platform, and TWC recently announced that its first RDK device will be an IP-only client device from Humax. Liberty Global is expected to lean on the RDK for a next-gen interface being developed for its Horizon TV platform.

“Accedo is excited to join the RDK community with the integration of Accedo Application Sphere,” said Lawrence Brickman, Accedo’s vice president of strategic partnerships, in a statement. “We look forward to bringing the power of Accedo’s TV application solutions to the rapidly growing RDK community."