AVOS Systems
Technology company with a platform that helps developers create apps in real-time.
| Date | Investors | Amount | Round |
|---|---|---|---|
N/A | Series A | ||
| Total Funding | 000k | ||
AVOS Systems was an internet technology company established in 2011 by Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, co-founders of YouTube. This venture marked their next chapter after selling YouTube to Google in 2006 for $1.65 billion. The founders, who had previously worked together at PayPal, aimed to build new products for everyday use. Hurley, with a background in design from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and experience as PayPal's first user-interface designer, served as CEO. Chen, a skilled software engineer who studied computer science at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, brought the technical expertise. The company was headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices in Beijing, China, and Dunedin, New Zealand.
The company's business model focused on acquiring and developing platforms that simplified content discovery and creation. AVOS's first major move was the acquisition of the social bookmarking service Delicious from Yahoo! in April 2011. The goal was to re-engineer Delicious to help users manage information overload. Following the acquisition, AVOS secured a Series A funding round in April 2012, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Google Ventures, with participation from Madrone Capital and Innovation Works. The funds were intended for hiring and further strategic acquisitions. Beyond Delicious, AVOS's portfolio included Mei.fm, a Chinese service similar to Pinterest, and Zeen, a platform for discovering and creating online magazines.
Ultimately, AVOS Systems pivoted its strategy. In 2014, the company sold Delicious to Science Inc. and shifted its focus almost entirely to MixBit, a mobile application for collaborative video editing. This app allowed users to record, edit, and remix video clips up to 16 seconds long. This strategic shift led to layoffs and eventually the departure of Steve Chen, who joined Google Ventures in June 2014, marking the end of his long-standing business partnership with Hurley. Hurley continued to lead MixBit, which was spun out of AVOS.
Keywords: Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, YouTube founders, Delicious acquisition, MixBit, Zeen, Mei.fm, content discovery, social bookmarking, video editing app, Google Ventures, New Enterprise Associates, internet applications, digital media, San Mateo startup
