Live Matrix, the TechCrunch Disrupt ’10 finalist that proclaimed to be the “TV Guide for the web,” has been acquired by online video guide OVGuide.com in an all stock deal. As a part of the deal Live Matrix co-founder and CEO Sanjay Reddy will become OVGuide’s new CEO.
Although Live Matrix will continue on as a standalone website, both companies will integrate their databases, allowing OVGuide to deliver a unified service covering all upcoming, live and on-demand content.
Live Matrix was founded by former SVP of M&A at Gemstar TV Guide, Sanjay Reddy and serial entrepreneur Nova Spivack, also co-founder of The Daily Dot, Bottlenose, StreamGlider and formerly the CEO of Radar Networks. The idea behind the startup was to offer a guide to all live web content. To be clear, that’s not just video, but also audiocasts, auctions, live chats, MMO games and more – anything that you would have to “tune in” to. Users can search the guide, view trending events and RSVP to those they like, while publishers can use Live Matrix widgets on their own site to promote upcoming happenings.
The company’s angel investors include Chris Kelly (Facebook), Leonard Kleinrock, Paige Craig (Betterworks), Allen Morgan (Mayfield, Idealab), and Spivack’s own Lucid Ventures. Their equity will now remain with the combined company going forward, which includes both databases, Live Matrix’s 6 patents and its trademarked “What’s When on the Web.”
OVGuide, for those unfamiliar, is an older service founded in 2006 by Dale Block. It sees 12.4 million monthly uniques, including 7 million mobile pageviews. The site indexes over 3,600 video sources, including TV shows, movies, sports and viral videos, among other things. Meanwhile, Live Matrix offers over 4 million tracked events across 400+ brands and channels, which works out to about 300,000 events tracked per week. With the Live Matrix acquisition, OVGuide shift its focus, as it will now be able to track the entire life cycle of a video, including when it’s “upcoming,” “live,” and “on-demand.”
As new CEO, Reddy succeeds Peter Lee, who will remain on the board and resume his full-time duties as a partner at Baroda Ventures, OVGuide’s primary investor.
