FastForward Networks Gets $30 Million Financing

FastForward Networks (http://www.ffnet.com) announced that it has secured $30 million in funding. The investment round was led by Bowman Capital, America Online, Enron, Inktomi, RealNetworks, and Sun Microsystems.

The start-up "FastForward not only has a market leading solution and corporate strategy, it also has a strong management team capable of executing on its vision," said Matthew Cowan, general partner with Bowman Capital. "The combination makes FastForward a compelling opportunity for Bowman Capital as we look forward to the growth of the streaming media marketplace."

The quality of this investment team is an overwhelming validation of FastForward's innovative architecture and of its strategic direction," said Abhay Parekh, co-founder, president, and CEO of FastForward Networks. "We believe that there is tremendous unrealized demand for live broadcast of audio and video over the Internet. Until now, management and distribution limitations have slowed the growth of this market." FastForward's networking platform for Internet broadcast allows content distributors and service providers to capitalize on the demand by delivering the management and distribution pieces necessary to deliver thousands of channels to millions of viewers over the Internet."

FastForward was recently selected by the Real Broadcast Network to handle its streaming management. Last week, it joined Microsoft's "Broadband Jumpstart Initiative" which aims to push broadband media and Windows Media, in particular.