Enswers, a provider of Automatic Content Recognition (ACR), has received a $2 million strategic investment from Samsung Venture Investment Corporation, the venture capital arm of Samsung.
Enswers has developed a close relationship with Samsung since 2012, providing its ACR technology for Samsung smart TVs sold in North America and its screenshot image to video playback service Imideo for Samsung Galaxy devices sold in Korea, and this deal is expected to bring the two companies closer.
“As TV sales reach saturation point, Samsung has been thinking of new business models. One of which is to distribute smart TVs as a content platform capable of providing complementary programming, t-commerce, and real-time analytics,” said JP Lee, CEO of Enswers America.
“Our technology, as well as our extensive experience in the ACR space, has demonstrated that Enswers is a good fit with Samsung’s future strategy.”
The funding will help Enswers expand its presence globally as it plans to take the company’s proven business strategies in Asia and apply them to the European and American markets. Enswers said it will also aggressively explore a wide range of industries and develop creative applications of ACR to create new business opportunities while actively marketing its existing products.
“Samsung has always been one of our valued partners, and we believe that its investment in Enswers represents a vote of confidence in our business model and our future growth prospects,” JP Lee said.
Founded in 2007 and now an independent subsidiary of KT (formerly Korea Telecom), Enswers provides ACR technology, which identifies audio, image, and video, to content providers and device manufacturers. The company has a solid track record in the industry, having collaborated with television networks such as Korea’s Seoul Broadcasting System, Japan’s Tokyo Broadcasting Systems, and Australia’s Yahoo!7, as well as advertising agencies such as Dentsu and Grey, to connect the first and second screens through interactive engagement.
