Andreessen backs Qik with a “significant investment”

Written on 26th August 2008                                                                                                              COMMENT
Ernst-Jan Pfauth, editor in chief

On December 17 we reported about a new video streaming service, called Qik. Scoble was their apostle, and The Next Web their platform to explain why homemade porn wasn’t welcome (it concerns the bible). In July Joop wrote about their open beta launch. Now it’s up to me to tell you Qik has received a “significant investment” from Netscape-pioneer Marc Andreessen and his favorite business partner Horowitz.

Andreessen has an impressive track record. He’s the co-founder and chairman of Ning (valued at $500 million) and an investor in several startups including big guys like Digg, Plazes, and Twitter. Horowitz and Andreessen were two of the most important men behind Netscape in the nineties.

Their advice and money will help Qik to firm up their position in the rapidly developing live video streaming market. Flixwagon, Floobs (interview), Kyte, Bambuser (review), and maybe Seesmic are all competitors who are addressing the same eager-to-share smartphone owners. With the Andreessen-Horowitz combo in their team and Scoble as their source of publicity, it’s definitely 2-0 for Qik versus the competition.

(By the way, did you know Qik also works on a jailbroken iPhone? Yeah, video!)