The world is about to get another online video service. Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis, who co-created KaZaA, Skype, Joost and Rdio, is setting up a service called Vdio. (Update: Zennstrom is not involved).
The stealth startup has $5.6 million, is kickstarted by the same company behind the unlimited-music service Rdio and is helmed as CEO by Europlay Capital Advisors’ Semion Smushkevich, GigaOm discovered.
What is Vdio? That’s unclear. Our efforts to reach out to Zennstrom have so far proved unsuccessful. But, if its likeness to Rdio is anything to go by, Vdio could be an unlimited movie subscription service like Netflix.
Currently in closed beta, the service is “coming soon” and scheduled to launch first in the UK, where the primary movie subscription window is locked up by News Corp.’s Sky Movies, a fact which moved Amazon’s Lovefilm to complain to the Competition Commission.
Lack of content was the biggest factor in Joost’s downfall. The connected TV opportunity could transform online video’s fortunes. Vdio’s preview site displays stills from movies including The Dark Knight, Karate Kid, Mad Men and The Tudors.
The team includes Joost, Apache Foundation, NBC (NSDQ: CMCSA) and Napster alumni including Joost director Mark Dyne (director), former TV Guide president Ian Aaron (director), former Joost CTO Justin Erenkrantz (CTO) and Apache Foundation’s Sander Striker (technical), GigaOm found.