Philo (company)
| Founded | 2009 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | San Francisco, CA, USA |
| Founder(s) |
|
| Key people | Andrew McCollum (CEO) Christopher Thorpe (Former CEO) |
| Industry | Internet television |
| Services | live TV through the web |
| Employees | 25 |
| URL | https://www.philo.com |
Philo (formerly Tivli) is an internet television company currently based in San Francisco, California that allows subscribers to watch and record TV on Internet-connected devices. The service first launched at Harvard in 2009, and has since spread to 40+ Universities.[1] Investors in the company include HBO, Facebook co-founder, Andrew McCollum, and Mark Cuban, among others.
History
Philo was founded in 2009 by Harvard graduates Nick Krasney and Tuan Ho. The venture originally launched as Tivli, but was then rebranded as Philo after a Series A investment in 2013. [2][3]
Because at the time, Harvard did not provide cable TV service to its students, founders Nick and Tuan chose to figure out away to get the service on their own. Soon, half the Harvard student population was using their service.[4]
In 2009 Philo, as Tivli, first incubated in Cambridge, Massachusetts at the Harvard Innovation Lab (iLab) before moving to Harvard Square in 2013. After securing their Series B round, Philo moved again in 2015 to San Francisco, California.[5]
In July, 2013, the venture raised a $6.3 million round led by venture capital firm New Enterprise Associates. Among the Series A investors, were Mark Cuban from Radical Investments LP, HBO, Rho Ventures and Hugo Van Vuuren from Experiment Fund.
In June 2015, Philo raised $10 million in a Series B round led by National Education Association, with joint investment from HBO, Rho Ventures, Xfund, CBC New Media Group, and both CEO and angel investor, Andrew McCollum.[6]
Recognition
Was named #47 in Fast Company’s 2014 “World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies.”[7]
References
- ^ "Philo Tunes in More Than 40 Universities | Multichannel". multichannel.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "On-Campus Streaming TV Provider Tivli Rebrands as Philo, Adds Cloud DVR - WSJ". wsj.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Tivli renamed Philo, adds DVR service - Boston Business Journal". bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2016-12-04.
- ^ "Start-Up Puts Streaming TV on Campus". 27 January 2013.
- ^ "TV startup led by Facebook co-founder to move to San Francisco". 15 June 2015.
- ^ "Philo Raises $10 Million From NEA, HBO & Others For Its On-Campus Internet TV Service". 15 July 2015.
- ^ https://www.fastcompany.com/most-innovative-companies/2014