Rob Glaser

Rob Glaser helped pioneer the online video, founding RealNetworks in 1995 a mere 10 years before YouTube came into existence. Maybe he was just a tad too early. But Glaser, who remains chairman of Real, hasn’t lost his interest in the business. He’s among the backers of a high-profile Silicon Valley startup by the name of Qwilt which today announced that it has raised $24 million in venture funding.

Other investors in the year-old maker of video-infrastructure technologies include Redpoint Ventures, Crescent Point Group and Accel Partners, the latter of which employs Glaser as a venture partner.

Qwilt, which has operated in stealth mode for nearly two years under the direction of former Cisco exec Alon Maor, has developed a method by which Internet service providers can more cost-effectively deliver online video to customers.

That’s also an area where thePlatform, the Seattle company that was acquired by Comcast in 2006, and Elemental Technologies, a Portland startup backed by Voyager Capital, operate. 

“The explosion of Internet video viewed through all types of Web-enabled devices, from smartphones to iPads, calls for new technology to help the consumer get the best possible viewing experience, and to help carriers and service providers optimize their networks for that,” said Qwilt CEO Maor.

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