Online video startup Qwilt raises $24 million

As consumers turn more to mobile devices to watch Internet video, the greater the burden that traffic places on wireless carriers and Internet service providers.

Qwilt, a provider of video-infrastructure products, aims to ease that burden by preparing networks for the expected explosion in Internet video traffic. The company announced today it has raised $24 million in two rounds of funding from Accel Partners, Redpoint Ventures, Crescent Point Group, and Real Networks founder Rob Glaser.

"The explosion of Internet video viewed through all types of Web-enabled devices, from smartphones to iPads, calls for new technology to help the consumer get the best possible viewing experience, and to help carriers and service providers optimize their networks for that," Qwilt CEO Alon Maor said in a statement.

With video content expected to account for two-thirds of Internet traffic by 2015, Qwilt said its technology will help relieve the stress on carriers and ISPs by storing and delivering Internet video through a single platform that can be integrated into customers' existing infrastructure. The company also said it can help carriers better monetize the video traffic they carry.

"The recent rise of bandwidth-usage caps shows how difficult and costly it is for carriers to deliver sophisticated video services today," Maor said. "Their networks are simply not architected for it. Qwilt offers a win-win-win solution for carriers, content providers and, most important, users."

Qwilt was founded in 2010 by Maor; Yuval Shahar, former chief executive of networking company P-Cube (which was acquired by Cisco); Giora Yaron, former chairman of Mercury Interactive Corp.; and Dan Sahar, formerly of Juniper Networks.