SVGE welcomes iStreamPlanet as Gold Sponsor
SVG Europe is pleased to announce that iStreamPlanet has not only become its latest Gold Sponsor, but also probably the first – much like the Editor’s daughter – to have its origins in a Las Vegas Wedding Chapel. The company itself takes up the story: iStreamPlanet’s humble beginning dates back to late 2000 and the early days of online video. After knee injuries abruptly ended Mio Babic’s basketball career, he found new challenges in the game of business. It all began when the most famous wedding chapel in Las Vegas asked Mio to find a way to broadcast weddings live, over the Internet, so friends and family unable to attend the wedding in person, could see the ceremony and share the special moment. Mio implemented a new and revolutionary method of leveraging streaming video and iStreamPlanet was born.
On January 16, 2001, after less than sixty days of development and implementation, the first wedding was webcast live. Mr. Babic was then joined by Alex Khaira, recent University of Washington graduate and entrepreneur himself. Soon after, Michael ‘Mat’ Rosa, an industry veteran who has been involved with Internet and online video since 1995, joined the team. Mio’s role became vision, strategy and product development while Alex went on to sell, promote and evangelize technologies developed by Mat and Mio.
In 2002, the Event Industry was looking for ways to leverage streaming video, market the tradeshows to interested people unable to attend, and extend the life of the shows. iStream partnered with Smart City, the event technology company, to provide online video services to leading convention centers throughout the USA.
In April of 2003, iStream became the world’s first company to deliver a live secured pay-per-view broadcast over the Internet, using Windows Media digital rights management technology. Since then, clients from a variety of industries have taken advantage of iStream PayCast monetization tools. Partnering with iStreamPlanet, the National Association of Broadcasters streamed the world’s first pay-per-view keynote from a convention center in 2005. After closing its first round of funding in 2007, industry veterans Randy Levine and Mark East joined iStreamPlanet. By the end of 2007, the company tripled in size and positioned itself for continued growth.