Facebook is purchasing the San Diego, California-based web video startup QuickFire Networks for an undisclosed amount. The company announced the acquisition on its website today, saying that “key members” of its team will be joining the social networking giant as it “winds down operations.”
QuickFire is known for its propriety software tech that significantly reduces the bandwidth needed to view video online without degrading its quality. The startup will help Facebook build an infrastructure capable of supporting the massive influx of video consumption it’s currently experiencing.
The tech will particularly come in handy as Facebook pushes video out to emerging markets, where connections are slow, and as it increases video advertisements. The company’s director of product in charge of video Fidji Simo says “advertisers are now embracing the fact that we are big in video.”
The QuickFire Networks buyout in just one in a string of recent purchases made by Facebook. Earlier this week the Menlo Park-based company announced that it had acquired Wit.ai, an 18-month-old startup that specializes in the recognition of spoken words and text phrases in natural language.
[QuickFire via Bloomberg]