Interactive video start-up Interlude Ltd., founded by rock musician and CEO Yoni Bloch, VP product, Tal Zubalsky, and COO Barak Feldman, has raised $15 million. Intel Capital led the round with a $6.5 million investment, and was joined by Yuval Shahar and Ohad Finkelstein's Marker LLC ($5 million), Sequoia Capital ($2.3 million), NEA ($2 million), Eric Schmidt's Innovation Endeavors ($400,000), and private investors, including Sergei Grishin. The company has raised $18.2 million to date.
Interlude makes it possible to turn video clips and advertisements interactive, in which viewers can pick how to move the plot forward out of various options, boosting their involvement in the brand. The company made news when it won the Israel Techonomy prize in 2010. The company has subsequently worked with many brands and companies, including Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI) and Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq: MSFT). In 2011, the company won an MTV award for the most innovative clip.
Bloch, Feldman, and Zubalsky founded Interlude n 2009, after working together for several years. Zubalsky is a guitarist in Bloch's band and album, and Feldman wrote most of the album's songs, as well as the first album by Efrat Gosh.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on May 20, 2013
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