Macromedia Ventures Into A New Division

files/pictures/picture-35.jpgOn March 21, 2000, Macromedia, Inc. announced the formation of a venture unit to invest in companies that share Macromedia's vision of Web infrastructure and the interactive, multi-device, broadband Internet of the future. The unit's first investments include Spiderdance, Context Media and iHarvest Corporation. Spiderdance, with branches in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New Jersey, develops a software system that synchs the Web with TV broadcasts. The Spiderdance-powered WebRIOT show on MTV and mtv.com allows thousands of viewers to watch TV and play along on the Web fluidly at the same time. The Spiderdance technology also synchronizes TV broadcasts with Web advertising, Web games and Web polls. The Providence, Rhode Island-based Context Media develops software for interactive content management and syndication. Context Media provides the technology to integrate audio, video and text with ease. The Palo Alto, California-based iHarvest Corporation produces software and services that allows Web surfers to collect and organize their Web information, both on-line and off-line, on multiple devices. The former president of Macromedia Products, Norm Meyrowitz, has been appointed as president of Macromedia Ventures. In Macromedia Products, Meyrowitz steered the division through such product launches as the award-winning Flash, Dreamweaver and Shockwave. Joining Meyrowitz at Macromedia Ventures is Margaret McCarthy, former senior VP of corporate development for Cadence Design Systems, Inc. "Macromedia's venture fund exists to ensure Macromedia remains at the forefront of what the Web can be," said Rob Burgess, Chairman and CEO, Macromedia. "Macromedia already delivers products that define the cutting edge of the Internet, but it is in our best interest to tap the entrepreneurial innovation going on around us, given the pace of the Internet."