Piksel was established in 2013 after the recapitalization of a predecessor entity. The company’s products were focused on the streaming of video content for the media and broadcast industry. Realizing that the customized development of full software stacks by broadcasters had become increasingly expensive, while also expecting that a large number of functionalities for a streaming application would become commodities (i.e. content transcoding, user authentication, paywall integration, a recommendation engine and a search engine), Piksel embarked on the development of a streaming platform that could be white-labeled and sold as a ‘Netflix-in-a-box’ solution. Through customer driven R&D and product development, Piksel started to anticipate and innovate technologies and techniques that would be implemented in later years by the streaming industry.
As the media landscape pivoted towards increased media streaming, dominant platforms emerged that sought to differentiate their product offerings through customized streaming implementations. These industry developments led to many of Piksel’s clients abandoning their efforts to develop video delivery offerings, which ultimately led to the wind down of Piksel.
The wind down of the operating business led Piksel’s investors to explore strategies to recuperate some of their investment. They recognized that Piksel had been an early innovator in streaming technology so they focused on monetizing the portfolio. Aware of the immense complexity and expense of enforcing IP, Piksel’s investors knew they would need an experienced external partner.
Piksel’s investors opted for a divestment strategy that would shorten time to money for recoveries from the portfolio and place the patents in the hands of new owners positioned to deploy the assets quickly. It was important to Piksel to work with licensing experts that understood the technology well and who could get a transaction done quickly and seamlessly. Furthermore, it was an important consideration to find a buyer with a reputation for expertise in digital video delivery who could appreciate Piksel’s contribution and validate it through licensing:
“We were very enthusiastic about VideoLabs' strategy of providing a platform for sharing IP developed by innovative and creative minds, used by organizations large and small in an equitable manner. We believe there is no better place for our patents to receive the credit and recognition they deserve, while contributing to the media and broadcast community. Creating protection for IP is challenging and expensive, and defending it is even more demanding. VideoLabs' innovative strategy offers a new path to overcoming these challenges,” commented Dr. Hans-Juergen Maas, Head of Intellectual Property at PRJ Holding LLC, Piksel’s parent organization.
Working with VideoLabs resulted in an efficient transaction process. Within only about 3 months from point of first contact, to getting the PPA executed, Piksel was able to close the transaction and receive payment. This is exceptionally fast timing, especially in the world of IP acquisitions and licensing where transactions can take as long as 8 to 12 months to execute – if not longer. This efficiency was the outcome of the seller’s clear goals combined with VideoLabs’ deep bench of expertise in the implementation of video-delivery and consumption technologies. Thanks to our in-house technical and legal expertise, we were able to zero in on the patents of interest without claim charts and complete full diligence without external input.
Additionally, Dr. Maas was pleased that they were able to secure value from VideoLabs’ compensation model which included cash up front, so PRJ Holding could realize some immediate cash flow, and also payouts on the backend.