NGCodec Closes $8M Series A, Launches Live Broadcast H.265/HEVC Cloud Video Encoding and Demonstrates Cloud VR

LAS VEGAS, Jan. 3, 2018 -- NGCodec, the pioneer in cloud video processing, announced the availability of broadcast quality H.265/HEVC for real-time streaming in the Amazon AWS Marketplace and ultra low latency H.265/HEVC for interactive virtual reality (VR) and mixed reality (MR). Streaming content from the cloud will activate the first billion users in VR by effectively transforming smartphones into high performance VR/MR clients. Broadcast quality video encoding will allow broadcasters to stream live events to millions of viewers with the same visual quality (VQ) as video on demand (VOD). The availability of the NGCodec H.265/HEVC encoder, followed in 2018 by support for the new Alliance for Open Media (AOM) AV1 Codec will provide the highest quality video encoding technology for real-time, interactive entertainment powered by scalable cloud infrastructures. Today's high-speed fiber optic and emerging 5G wireless technology will deliver these experiences to users everywhere.

"NGCodec RealityCodec™ delivers the best video quality for live H.265/HEVC video encoding in the AWS EC2 F1 public cloud," said Marc Todd Founder and CEO of Skreens. "It took just a few days to integrate and the SaaS based pricing avoids larger upfront costs." Skreens, an NGCodec customer, delivers multi-video fusion solutions for broadcast, streaming, and AV to mobile, desktop and IOT users.

"We have worked diligently to bring our advanced video codecs to the Amazon Cloud and to demonstrate the potential for cloud media and virtual reality," said Oliver Gunasekara CEO and Co-Founder of NGCodec. "Closing our Series A round will propel our technology into the 5G era, bringing our total raised to $15.9M from world-class institutions including Xilinx, Belmore Capital and NSF."

"NGCodec is delivering two technically challenging entertainment experiences through the cloud: real time, live broadcast and low-latency, high resolution VR and MR," said the company's new CTO and VP of Algorithms, Pavel Novotny. "Our broadcast quality video processing technology will allow broadcasters to stream the highest quality live video at 60 frames per second to millions of viewers delivered with the same VQ as VOD with scalable cloud servers. Our VR streaming technology renders 90 frames per second and scales to meet the increasing resolution and frame rate demands of next generation headsets. Both will migrate to our AV1 codec implementation later in 2018 for even higher compression."

The company is demonstrating RealityCodec for VR at the America's Seed Fund Powered by the National Science Foundation at 2018 CES Eureka Park (Booth 50322). Cloud-based VR is an emerging application for cloud video encoding where applications are run in the cloud, and output is converted to compressed video streams for rapid transmission to untethered mobile users. The performance of cloud computers is 20x that of smartphone clients, bringing PC class performance to any head-mounted display. RealityCodec is optimized for low latency, streaming VR over a network with no noticeable difference between the encoded stream and a directly connected head mounted display. To further explore the future of VR streaming, NGCodec and Tirias Research have announced the publication of a free white paper on the potential for cloud to activate a billion VR/MR users available at www.ngcodec.com/ces online.

NGCodec creates algorithms, silicon logic and FPGA implementations for cloud video processing, powering the next generation of real-time media experiences. The company's RealityCodec technology streams interactive and real-time media at the highest performance levels. The company is announcing the completion of its most recent financing round of $8M bringing the total invested to date to $15.9M. The company's family of investors includes Belmore Capital, Xilinx and the National Science Foundation.

About NGCodec Inc.

NGCodec® has been in passionate pursuit of next generation video compression since 2012. With the support of investors including Xilinx, NGCodec's agile startup team has created Reality Codec™, a compressor-decompressor technology optimized for ultra-low latency, high-quality applications. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, NGCodec leverages FPGA acceleration in the Cloud to lower encoding costs by 10x over traditional CPU encoders. Learn more at https://ngcodec.com/ces or @NGCodec. NGCodec can be found On the NSF booth in Eureka Park, Sands Expo Level 1 Hall G, Booth Number 50322