Wistia Raises Funds to Buy Out Angel Investors

In the US, Internet video hosting and analytics company Wistia has raised $17.3m in debt financing, which it will use to buy out its angel investors. In a statement, the firm said this will enable it to remain true to its founders' principles of being 'creatively-driven, long-lasting, and independent'.

Founded in 2006 in Cambridge, MA, Wistia's video analytics uncover who's been watching a firm's videos, how much of each video they've watched, and which videos are providing the most value to a business. Data on viewers is displayed on the Audience page, which measures assisted conversion, and tracks playback for groups of users. In addition, the company's heatmaps show which parts of a video the viewer has watched, while its engagement graphs provide a view of audience trends, such as re-watches, drop-offs, and interactions with a video.

Over the past twelve years, Wistia has only raised $1.4m in angel funding, and it has since built a company with a $32m revenue run rate. In a statement, the firm said that buying out its investors and sidestepping the availability of venture capital, came after the 'uncommon entrepreneurial decision' to turn down several opportunities to cash out and sell the business. Wistia then chose tech-focused private equity firm Accel-KKR to provide the debt funding.

Wistia CEO and co-founder Chris Savage (pictured) comments: 'When we started the company, we hoped to sell it to Facebook in six months. The truth of the matter is, it took us eleven years before some real offers came in, but once they did, the idea of actually selling had become much more complicated. We've since flipped the company back to being profitable, and we're growing by thinking long term and taking risks we believe in. Revenue growth has been stronger since we have focused and simplified'.

Web site: www.wistia.com .