Skyfire (company)
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Skyfire is a software company founded in 2007, and acquired by Opera Software ASA, now Otello Corporation, in 2013. In 2015, the company became the Network Solutions division of Opera, and ceased using the Skyfire brand name. They offer network optimization technologies including video optimization and monetization tools for carriers. Skyfire discontinued its Skyfire Web Browser in 2014 in order to consolidate its focus on its
mobile operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a wireless service provider, wireless carrier, cellular company, or mobile network carrier, is a provider of wireless communications services that owns or controls all the elements necessary to sell ...
technology. Skyfire was funded by
venture capital Venture capital (often abbreviated as VC) is a form of private equity financing that is provided by venture capital firms or funds to startups, early-stage, and emerging companies that have been deemed to have high growth potential or which ha ...
,Skyfire About Us Page
/ref> and was acquired by Opera Software ASA in March 2013.


History

Skyfire was found in 2007 by Nitin Bhandari and Erik Swenson. The company was originally named DVC Labs but changed their name in 2008. Skyfire received initial funding of $4.8 million from
Matrix Partners Matrix Partners is a US-based private equity investment firm focusing on venture capital investments. The firm invests in seed and early-stage companies in the United States and India, particularly in the software, communications, semiconduct ...
and Trinity Ventures in June 2007. Skyfire increased their funding in 2008 with an additional $13 million investment from
Lightspeed Venture Partners Lightspeed Venture Partners is a global venture capital firm focusing on multi-stage investments in the enterprise, consumer, and health sectors. Lightspeed invests in seed, early and growth-stage companies. The company invests in the U.S. and a ...
, Matrix and Trinity. As part of the investment, a Lightspeed Ventures partner joined the board of directors. In January 2012, they received $8 million from
Verizon Verizon Communications Inc., commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications conglomerate and a corporate component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is headquartered at 1095 Avenue of the Americas in ...
Investments LLC, Matrix, Trinity, and Lightspeed. In 2010, Skyfire purchased Kolbysoft, which allowed them to extend their web browser for the Android marketplace with Kolby's Steel Web Browser. In October 2012, SkyFire raised $10 million in series D financing from
Panorama Capital CCMP Capital is an American private equity investment firm that focuses on leveraged buyout and growth capital transactions. Formerly known as JP Morgan Partners, the investment professionals of JP Morgan Partners separated from JPMorgan Chase o ...
, which is a venture capital firm that spun out from
JP Morgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...
in 2006. On February 15, 2013, Skyfire was acquired by Opera Software for $155 millionOpera primarily eyed Skyfire for its video optimization technologies, which complements its own content optimization technologies. In February 2015, the company ceased using the Skyfire brand name, and became the Network Solutions division of parent company Opera Software ASA.


Technology

Skyfire offers two main products: its Rocket Optimizer video, audio and multimedia optimization software and Skyfire Horizon browser extension platform.


Rocket Optimizer

Skyfire's Rocket Optimizer is a platform used by wireless operators to optimize video and images and save bandwidth while allowing multimedia, particularly video, to load more smoothly at times of poor wireless connectivity. It can optimize most unencrypted online videos in real-time. It optimizes based on device type and
network congestion Network congestion in data networking and queueing theory is the reduced quality of service that occurs when a network node or link is carrying more data than it can handle. Typical effects include queueing delay, packet loss or the blocking of ...
levels. It does so by performing greater and best optimization for smaller screen sizes with minimal impact on the end user and optimizes more heavily when networks are experiencing higher traffic rates. Rocket Optimizer 3.0 is the most recent version of Skyfire's carrier-grade network video and data optimization platform, and was launched in January 2013. It offers real-time optimization of mobile video to enable smoother streaming, and allows for the ability to measure, quantify and then mitigate congestion down to a per-stream level. The platform also supports video formats, including MP4 (which comprises most HTML5 and iOS video). It can be used on both 3G and 4G LTE networks.


Skyfire Horizon

Skyfire's Horizon is a web browser extension framework to the native smartphone browser. The toolbar is a fully customizable web-based operator portal embedded in the default browser of new smartphones. It offers extensions that can be customized by mobile and end users. It includes a web-based management portal that allows an operator to define extensions via the
cloud In meteorology, a cloud is an aerosol consisting of a visible mass of miniature liquid droplets, frozen crystals, or other particles suspended in the atmosphere of a planetary body or similar space. Water or various other chemicals may co ...
without needing to update client software. It allows personal services to users and also
ad serving Ad serving describes the technology and service that places advertisements on Web sites, mobile apps, and Connected TVs. Ad serving technology companies provide software to Web sites and advertisers to serve ads, count them, choose the ads th ...
capabilities. The product is currently deployed on multiple tier one carriers in North America, and is in numerous trials across the U.S. and Europe. In October 2012, Sprint added Skyfire Horizon to their Pinsight Media+ promotion, and its upcoming Android devices.


Skyfire Web Browser

Skyfire Web Browser was a downloadable mobile web browser which rendered requested web pages on a proprietary server and relayed them to the browser on the end user's mobile phone, which then displayed the content. It comprised two distinct generations of mobile browser technology. In the first generation (1.x) browser, a web page was fully rendered by a server separate from the mobile device, similar to the operation of a thin client. This approach is also used by Opera Mini. The second generation (2.x) browser employed a hybrid approach, using a conventional rendering of web pages on the handheld device, but streaming video from Skyfire's servers. The browser received the Webby "People's Voice Award for Best Mobile Application" in 2009. and was also recognized in 2010 by
PC World ''PC World'' (stylized as PCWorld) is a global computer magazine published monthly by IDG. Since 2013, it has been an online only publication. It offers advice on various aspects of PCs and related items, the Internet, and other personal tech ...
as the World's Best Third-Party Android Browser. and was named the "#2 Android App of All Time" by Tech Crunch. In 2011, it was named the "Top iPad Utility" by Apple. The Skyfire Web Browser was supported on iOS, Android, SymbianOS and Windows Mobile devices before being discontinued in May 2014.


Awards

Skyfire was recognized as one of the top ten startup companies to watch by Light Reading's in 2011. The company was also listed by
Red Herring A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question. Red herring may also refer to: Animals * Red herring (fis ...
for being one of the top 100 most innovative companies in 2012. Skyfire won a grand prize in the 2012 TIA Venture Network Challenge. The company also won Best in Show at the 2013 Fierce Innovation Awards for Rocket Optimizer.


References


External links


Company Homepage
{{Web browsers Mobile web browsers Web browsers Privately held companies of the United States American companies established in 2007 Telecommunications companies of the United States Software companies established in 2007 2013 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Mountain View, California Discontinued web browsers