Penthera Raises $6 Million to Power Video Downloads

Penthera, which makes software to power video downloading to mobile devices, has raised $6 million from Liberty Global Ventures, the venture investment arm of Liberty Global International, which is the biggest international cable company and chaired by John Malone. Cache&Carry includes DRM support, configurable business rules, download queuing options, mobile DVR and “FastPlay” which launches buffer-free viewing. Downloading makes a ton of sense because even with advancements in mobile networks, having a sufficiently robust connection for a high-quality stream is still far from a given. According to a survey Penthera released this past May, over a third of subscribers to major SVOD services age 18-44 years-old weren’t aware downloading was available. Another key ingredient is having dynamically updated and trackable ads, so that downloading is more practical for ad-supported video providers.