A self-service online video advertising platform for local businesses, Jivox, announced today that it has raised a $2.7 million seed round of financing led by Opus Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm. This round of funding also includes investments from individual investors including Jivox founder Diaz Nesamoney. The funds will be used to expand the company's sales and marketing efforts, as well as to continue development of the Jivox online video advertising platform.

    Founded in 2007 by Diaz Nesamoney, the visionary entrepreneur behind Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) and Celequest (acquired in 2007 by Cognos), Jivox aims to bring the power of online video advertising to the mass market.

    Diaz Nesamoney, founder and CEO of Jivox said: "To date, video advertising has only been accessible to the large brand advertisers due to the high costs of production and placement on TV. The explosive growth in online video content is creating an opportunity for mid-sized and local businesses to harness the power of the internet to reach consumers. Jivox is enabling mass adoption of an advertising medium that is much more engaging and effective than search and display advertising due to its visual impact". "We're very pleased that Opus Capital and our other investors also see the enormous potential of opening up this market to smaller advertisers."

    Gill Cogan, general partner, Opus Capital said: "By making online video advertising a possibility for more advertisers, Jivox will accelerate broader adoption of the medium". "As an early investor in Informatica and Celequest, we have had a strong long-term relationship with Diaz, and I've seen first-hand how he has been able to turn an idea into a product, and then evolve the product to stay one step ahead of the changing needs of the market. We are looking forward to supporting Diaz and the Jivox team as they build Jivox into a successful business."

    The self-service online video advertising platform for local businesses, Jivox, gives smaller and local advertisers access to online video advertising by making it easy to create, target and deliver online video ads. The Jivox platform combines a proprietary targeting technology, self-service video ad creation tool, and a growing network of publishers to offer advertisers a complete, do-it-yourself service for online video advertising. Jivox is a privately held company headquartered in San Mateo, Calif.