Brightcove acquires video ad 'stitching' startup Unicorn Media for $49M

Cloud video company Brightcove has acquired Unicorn Media in a deal worth $49 million, the company announced today.

Brightcove is well known for its wide range of cloud-based video services, including hosting, transcoding, video editing, and more. The much smaller Unicorn Media specializes in being able to insert video ad content seamlessly (aka stitch) into a media company’s main video content in the cloud.

The purchase makes sense for Brightcove because Unicorn Media’s technology can compliment its other services. Also, everyone from brands to social networks are looking to video advertising. (For instance just recently, Facebook started auto-playing video ads within its users’ news feeds.)

“The acquisition of Unicorn Media is part of a larger strategic initiative to increase our focus on delivering unbeatable value for television broadcasters, programmers, and distributors worldwide,” said Brightcove CEO David Mendels in a blog post.

Brightcove said Unicorns “Once” product line will continue as a standalone service, but its technology will also be integrated into some of Brightcove’s other services.