Summit Partners Invests in Wowza Media Systems

EVERGREEN, CO and PALO ALTO, CA—Wowza Media Systems, LLC, the “Any Screen Done Right™” media server software company, announced today that growth equity investor Summit Partners has completed a minority investment in Wowza. This investment positions Wowza for continued strong global growth and opens up opportunities to expand the company’s product offering.

Wowza’s CEO & Cofounder David Stubenvoll and CTO & Cofounder Charlie Good remain majority owners of the company and lead the Wowza Board of Directors. Greg Goldfarb, a Summit Partners Managing Director, has joined the board. The transaction was completed on March 1, 2012, and financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Summit Partners, which has raised more than $14 billion in capital since inception, has invested in a number of industry-leading companies in the software, internet, and media sectors. “The investment by Summit Partners affirms Wowza’s leadership position within the fast-growing and ever-evolving streaming media space,” Stubenvoll said. “Summit has deep expertise and a strong track record in supporting rapidly growing technology companies, as well as a history of investing in companies with proven business models, records of revenue and earnings growth, and the leadership capable of sustaining that growth. Summit’s support will help us continue to provide outstanding service and innovative products to our customers, as well as expand beyond our current offerings.”

Stubenvoll and Good founded Wowza in late 2005, and within a few years the company has emerged as a leading media server software brand delivering ever-evolving disruptive software that has redefined multiformat streaming across all screens. Since the release of its first version of Wowza Media Server software in 2007, the company has reached more than 100,000 licensees in more than 150 countries. Customers include service providers, radio and TV broadcasters, media properties, enterprises, educational institutions, OEMs, government agencies, and other organizations that need reliable, extensible, affordable delivery of video to any digital screen.

“Wowza is a market leader in the streaming media industry, providing an expansive product portfolio to a diverse range of organizations around the world. The company offers customers an unprecedented user experience and dependable, uninterrupted streaming of their media,” said Goldfarb of Summit Partners. ”As a long-time investor in media technology and software companies, Summit Partners is pleased to support this strong team of entrepreneurs that has built a rapidly growing and profitable company poised for significant expansion.”

About Wowza Media Systems
Wowza Media Systems, LLC (www.wowza.com) is the “Any Screen Done Right™” media server software company delivering an industrial-strength infrastructure for streaming live video, video-on-demand, live recording, and video chat. Wowza has a singular focus on delivering high-performance media server software to service providers, media properties, enterprises, and other organizations serious about delivering video to any digital screen—computer, mobile phone, or home TV. More than 100,000 global licensees in entertainment, social media, advertising, enterprise, education, government, and Internet commerce have deployed Wowza Media Server software to date. Wowza is privately held with headquarters in Evergreen, Colo.

About Summit Partners
Summit Partners (www.summitpartners.com) is a growth equity firm that invests in rapidly growing companies. Founded in 1984, Summit has raised more than $14 billion in capital and provides equity and credit for growth, recapitalizations, and management buyouts. Summit has invested in more than 340 companies across a range of industries. These companies have completed more than 125 public offerings, and in excess of 130 have been acquired through strategic mergers and sales. Summit Partners has offices in Boston, Palo Alto, London, and Mumbai. Notable media technology and software companies financed by Summit Partners include Hyperion Solutions, McAfee Associates, RightNow Technologies, SeaChange International, Unica, Wildfire Interactive, and WebEx Communications.

Wowza and related marks are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Wowza Media Systems, LLC. Third-party product names and related marks are either registered trademarks or trademarks of such third parties.

In the United States of America, Summit Partners operates as an SEC-registered investment advisor. In the United Kingdom, this document is issued by Summit Partners Limited, a firm authorized and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Summit Partners Limited is a limited company registered in England and Wales with company number 4141197, and its registered office is at 20–22 Bedford Row, London, WC1R 4JS, UK. This document is intended solely to provide information regarding Summit Partners’ potential financing capabilities for prospective portfolio companies.