Boxee is the first "social" media center, whose free, open source, downloadable software is changing the way consumers experience media.

On a computer or connected to an HDTV, Boxee gives people a truly connected digital entertainment experience to enjoy movies, TV shows, music and photos, as well as streaming content from websites like Netflix, MLB.TV, Comedy Central, Pandora, Last.fm, and flickr. Not only that, but you can share information about what you’re watching with friends so they can find it legally and enjoy it too. You can even post things you like to social networks like Twitter, Last.FM, or Tumblr. All this from within a visually driven interface that makes media come to life.

Supported Platforms

Boxee runs on the following computer platforms:

History

The idea for Boxee was born when founding friends Avner, Gidon, Idan, Tom, and Roee, came up with the idea for boxee in 2004 when they began using Xbox Media Center, open source software for the original Xbox that allowed people to play digital media on their TVs. They became members of XBMC’s open source community and in 2007 imagined a way to take the platform even further. Since 2007, Mr. Ronen and a team of 11 others have worked to extend the base code for XBMC with online sources like hulu and Netflix as well as social networking in boxee.

Awards

CEA iStage Winner 2009
G4's Best of Best: Maximum Tech @ CES 2009
CNet Editor's Pick @ CES 2009
Rolling Stone 2009 Agents of Change: Avner Ronen
T3 New Media Service of the Year Finalist 2009

Funding

Boxee has received two rounds of funding totaling $10M.

Series A – November 17, 2008 - $4M
$2M from Spark Capital, led by Bijan Sabet
$2M from Union Square Ventures led by Fred Wilson

Series B – August 12, 2009 - $6M
$4M from General Catalyst Partners, led by Neil Sequeira
$1M from Spark Capital
$1M from Union Square Ventures

Conference Speakers

Avner Ronen, CEO & co-founder

Named one of Rolling Stone's "Agents of Change" for 2009, prior to boxee Ronen was the Head of Corporate Development and M&A for Comverse, Inc. a leading provider of software and service to Telecom service providers. Ronen was responsible for acquisitions valued at $450M, which were key to the company's evolution from a Voicemail company to a Billing and VAS provider.

Ronen joined Comverse in 2002 when they acquired Odigo, a company he co-founded in 1998. Odigo was one of the early Instant Messaging services on the web serving over8M users worldwide, and earned Ronen the 2002 honor of being a member of Crain's 40 under 40.

Prior to Odigo Ronen served for 4.5 years in the Israeli Defense Force in the special computer unit, MAMRAM.

Andrew Kippen, VP of Marketing

Andrew Kippen was previously a marketing strategist at Stage Two Consulting where he crafted go-to market strategies for consumer tech startups and taught larger companies how to approach online influencers and social media.

Prior to that Kippen worked in the Economic Office of the French Embassy, helping French companies understand and approach the US technology marketplace with innovative messaging and positioning strategies. He also organized and emceed Tech Connection, a networking event for the tech community.

After obtaining his degree he quickly launched into Public Relations with Spaeth Communications, where he specialized in coaching large corporate and government clients like FedEx and the US Department of Education in media relations.

Andrew was born in Dallas, Texas, raised by Scottish parents, and educated by Hungarian clergy. He holds a degree in International Communications from Franklin College in Switzerland.

Zach Klein, Chief Product Officer

Zach Klein is an accomplished entrepreneur and designer. Prior to Boxee, he was a founding partner and chief of product at Connected Ventures, the creators of CollegeHumor.com and Busted Tees.

In 2006, he and his partners sold a major stake of Connected Ventures to Barry Diller’s Interactive Corp (IAC). Zach is best known for co-founding and designing Vimeo.com, a popular video-sharing community emphasizing authenticity and quality. Time Magazine recently named Vimeo one of the Top 50 sites on the Internet.