Video platform Zype and ad tech company TripleLift said they are working together to offer in-show advertising placements that can be inserted in connected TV streams and executed programmatically.

TripleLift’s said its ad formats are non-disruptive and enable content owners to reduce ad breaks without sacrificing revenue, while giving advertisers contextual relevance.

Music video programmer Vevo is already using technology from both Zype and TripleLift’s to stream overlay ads. 

“Streaming TV has changed what viewers expect of their television experience. We know that viewers want a television experience that is more integrated and less interruptive and OTT content publishers need better ways to help brands reach their audiences,” said Michael Shields, general manager, connected TV, TripleLift. “Together with Zype, we’re making it possible for content publishers of all sizes to create and fulfill ad inventory in their linear playout channels through innovative, non-disruptive ad placements that meets viewer expectations and drives better outcomes for advertisers.” 

Programmers using Zype’s Playout 2.0 platform can use TripleLift in-show ads to identify contextual moment and surface areas in content to superimpose a brand message or image on already-produced content. It can also scale back video content allowing six-second ads to appear at optimal moments, the companies said.

“At Zype, we’re always looking to work with innovative advertising technology partners that can offer our customers greater opportunities for monetization and an improved streaming experience for the end-user,” said Matt Moore, senior VP of product at Zype. “TripleLift's technology provides just that, with a focus on greater ad engagement and a better viewer experience, which presents an incredible alignment with our vision.”   ■

Zype, a video API platform, said it acquired Maz Systems, which develops apps for connected TV and mobile devices.

Combined, Zype will be able to help video publishers create and monetize streaming experiences, the company said.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

“Streaming video content is now essential for enterprises to engage audiences anywhere, anytime and on any device,” said Ed Laczynski, CEO of Zype. “Adding MAZ’s best-in-breed TV and mobile app publishing and automation will help enterprise video publishers design  cross-platform apps from a single configuration. Our research shows that 92%  of organizations underestimate the amount of manual work required to create and manage video products, and we are excited to add these capabilities to better connect the world’s streaming video and viewers.”

Founded in 2014, Zype works with companies including Meredith, TMZ, Outdoor TV, Cox Media Group, Vevo, FreeWheel and Hulu.

With Maz, Zype supports automated app publishing across devices including iOS, Android, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Samsung Tizen, Vizio, LG, Android TV, and Xbox.

, "Our philosophy for the acquisition was to extend our capabilities beyond the OTT apps and mobile space, providing a deeper and more robust set of solutions to both MAZ and Zype’s customers, and most importantly to invest in innovation in the video ecosystem with a larger team of engineers, product, and sales experts who share a common set of values and goals," said Maz Systems CEO Shikha Arora.

Arora is joining the Zype leadership team. She will continue leading the Maz group and help Zype's innovation strategy going forward.

The combination of the companies brings New York-based Zype to more than 80 employees on four continents. The company supports over 900 video apps and playout channels available to over 2 billion people worldwide.

Zype said StarTalk Radio, a podcast hosted by Neil deGrasse Tyson and affiliated with the National Geographic series StarTalk, has selected the cloud video distribution service to power a new SVOD service, StarTalk All-Access.

The SVOD offering is aimed at space and science enthusiasts, and features the full StarTalk Radio and StarTalk All-Stars podcast library and episodes of the StarTalk Live! Show. StarTalk All-Access sells for $4.99 per month or $49.90 per year, and is initially supported on Web browsers and Amazon Fire TV devices. It will debut on Apple TV and Roku later this month.

“A premium subscription service is the natural progression for an influencer such as Neil deGrasse Tyson,” Zype founder and CEO Ed Laczynski, said in a statement. “Neil's work with PBS, National Geographic, StarTalk Radio, and more recently YouTube, has made him one of the most recognizable faces in science.”

Zype, which has also launched a streaming service, recently announced $3.6 million in seed funding led by Revel Partners.

Zype’s other announced customers include Havoc.tv, Luis Network, Chukker.tv, BTV Studios, Mill Creek  Entertainment, The Rebel Media, The Film Detective, The Grind House, Brooklyn On Demand, Shout! Factory, and the All Babies Channel, among others. Zype was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York. 

Zype, a cloud-powered OTT video distribution service, has complemented its on-demand capabilities with a product that's focused on live video streaming.

Zype Live, targeted at events and linear channels, handles elements such as ingest, packaging, transcoding, and distribution, data analytics, and the ability to convert those events and feeds to VOD formats after a live program ends.

Zype said its new live platform also supports various business models, including subscriptions, pay –per-view, and free ad-based content, and can deliver that content to a wide range of devices, including Apple TV, Roku players, Web browsers, Amazon Fire TV boxes, smart TVs and iOS and Android mobile devices. Integrated multicasting can also support Facebook Live, YouTube and Twitch, the company said.

Zype got into live streaming after it built a private beta for select customers, including Compound Media, Ed Laczynski, Zype’s founder and CEO, said, noting that supporting live is more than transcoding and analytics, but a suite of orchestration that needs to occur before and after the event.

“We are getting a ton of demand for live,” he said. While Facebook and Periscope now offer live streaming capabilities, content makers have less control of their revenue streams.

Those options are “great for discovery and promotion…but not necessarily where you want to run your business,” Laczynski said.

Other early takers include Texan Live, a service that features live and on-demand high school sports from the Houston area. Texan Live is now poised to run 12 concurrent live streams as it ramps up coverage from eight teams to 42 teams.

Havoc.tv is also tapping Zype Live to launch a free and premium OTT service that’s set to launch this fall. Luis Network and Chukker.tv  are also using it.

Zype’s other announced customers include NBTV Studios, Mill Creek  Entertainment, The Rebel Media, The Film Detective, The Grind House, Brooklyn On Demand, Shout! Factory, and the All Babies Channel, among others.

Zype’s business model for live is based on a per subscriber/per transaction per month basis.  Customers can use their own delivery networks or tap into Zype’s for streaming, charged by the hour.

Zype is a startup in a competitive field of streaming services that support both live and VOD, including NeuLion, Encoding.com, Comcast Wholesale, iStreamPlanet (owned by Turner),  UStream (now part of IBM), and BAM Tech, the technology services and video streaming unit launched by Major League Baseball and now partly owned by Disney.

Zype’s new live product comes on the heels of $3.6 million in seed funding led by Revel Partners.

Zype was founded in 2014 and is headquartered in New York. 

Zype, a cloud-powered OTT distribution service, said it has closed a $3.6 million round of seed funding led by Revel Partners.

Zype noted that $2 million has been added to an initial raise of $1.6 million announced last October. Other investors include Point Nine Capital, Alpine Meridian Ventures, Berlin Ventures, Entrepreneurs Investment Fund, and Terrapin Bale Ventures.

Zype, founded in 2014 and headquartered in New York, said revenues in 2015 rose 229% paired with a 327% surge in new customer acquisitions.

The startup said more than 100 OTT apps from customers are now present in the market, and claims to be managing more than 821,000 unique video titles for its partners. Zype’s announced customers feature mix of content creators and SVOD services, including NBTV Studios, Mill Creek  Entertainment, The Rebel Media, The Film Detective, The Grind House, Chukker.tv, Brooklyn On Demand, Shout! Factory, and the All Babies Channel.

Zype’s platform, which handles elements such as publishing, streaming alongside data analytics,  supports a wide range of platforms, including Apple TV, iOS and Android, the Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Web browsers, and smart TVs.

Zype also announced that AJ Vernet, late of DoubleClick, Sizmek, and Digital Broadcasting Group, has been hired as chief revenue officer.