Brightcove Preparing for IPO in 2011?

By Ed Silverstein, TMCnet Contributor

Online video publisher Brightcove may be preparing for an initial public offering in the first half of next year, unnamed sources told Reuters.

Brightcove, which helps media and marketing companies distribute Web videos across the Internet, is betting on a dramatic increase in the use of video as a communication tool by a wide range of companies, including those in retail and education.

The company has recruited Chris Menard as chief financial officer from Phase Forward, a mid-sized software company.

Menard came to Brightcove after more than nine years at Phase Forward, a leading provider of enterprise software and services for clinical trials and drug safety, and brought expertise in the financial and operational management of dynamic growth environments.

“Christopher is an important addition to our executive management team and will be instrumental in helping ramp operations and leverage growth and expansion opportunities on a worldwide basis,” Jeremy Allaire (News - Alert), Brightcove chairman and chief executive officer, said when Menard was named to the post. “He brings tremendous perspective and a proven track record in strategic planning and acquisitions. I look forward to working with him as we develop our position as a long-term independent company.”

Menard joined Phase Forward in 2001 as director of finance and held numerous roles, including vice president of finance and, most recently, senior vice president and chief financial officer. He was at the company for many of its key milestones and played an integral role in the execution and integration of six acquisitions, successful execution of the IPO and secondary stock offering, and implementation of global financial systems.

He was also heavily involved in Phase Forward’s recent acquisition by Oracle (News - Alert).

 Prior to Phase Forward, he was director of finance and accounting at Clinsoft Corporation, which was acquired by Phase Forward in 2001. Menard also currently teaches mergers and acquisitions at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management.

“Brightcove is in a unique position as the leader in a fast-growing sector with world-class management that knows how to scale successful platform businesses,” Menard said at the time of his appointment. “I am excited to join the team and look forward to helping Brightcove capitalize on growth opportunities around the world.”

Brightcove is a cloud-based online video platform. Media companies, businesses and organizations worldwide use Brightcove to publish and distribute video on the Web. Founded in 2004, Brightcove has offices across North America, Europe and Asia and customers in 48 countries.

Menard was the latest in a string of senior executives who joined Brightcove this year, including President David Mendels, who came over from Adobe Systems (News - Alert) in January.

In addition, former Macromedia CFO Betsey Nelson has joined the Brightcove board. Both Allaire and Mendels worked with Nelson at Macromedia.

"These appointments underscore that we're building a significant global independent company," said Allaire.

He declined to comment on whether the company was lining up an IPO, but the source close to the company said plans are in the works to go public in the 2011 first half, Reuters (News - Alert) said.

The company says its revenue has grown by 50 percent year-on-year and is expected to hit about $50 million this year.

Brightcove is looking for acquisitions that will help it improve its market share, differentiate its technology and recruit new talent, Reuters reported.

Earlier this year there was speculation that Brightcove might be a Google (News - Alert) acquisition target. Allaire declined to comment on that.

(source: http://business-video.tmcnet.com/topics/business-video/articles/109715-brightcove-preparing-ipo-2011.htm)