Audible Inc. Announces Equity Investment by Compaq Computer Corporation, Hambrecht & Quist LLC
WAYNE, NJ--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 30, 1998-- New Investors Join Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Patricof & Co., Ironwood Capital, AT&T Ventures, Intel, and The Thomson Corporation
for Third-Round Investment
Company has Introduced First Internet-Based, End-to-End System
for Secure Delivery of Spoken Audio for Mobile Playback
Audible Inc., the leader in delivery of spoken audio programming over the Internet for mobile playback, announced today that Hambrecht
& Quist LLC and Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) have made an investment in Audible.
Founded in 1995 by award-winning author and journalist Don Katz and PC industry veteran Tim Mott, Audible Inc. has created the first end-to-end system for secure delivery and mobile playback of Internet audio. It markets the Audible MobilePlayer(TM), a 3.5-oz. handheld player that holds 2 hours of audio for mobile playback; through a partnership with RealNetworks(TM), the Intranet Mobile Audio Solution, an intranet platform that allows corporations to distribute proprietary audio to mobile workers; and Audible.com(TM), a Web store offering over 10,000 hours of spoken audio programming from over 70 different providers. The company is the creation of a group of veterans from the publishing, consumer electronics, media programming, and multimedia development industries.
"We are excited to be backed by such notable investors," said company Founder Donald Katz. "We believe we have a leadership position in both the technology and content aspects of mobile Internet audio and hope to make the Audible MobileAudio System an industry standard. Our latest round of financing will enable us to reach the next level in our operational plan."
"Audible has developed a solution to enable PC owners to get spoken word content off the Internet and onto a convenient, go anywhere handheld player," said Victor Varney, Director of Operations for Intel's Developer Relations Group. "This is a great example of how new, value-added services and products are made possible through the marriage of the PC and the Internet."
About Audible Inc.:
Founded in the summer of 1995, the mission of Audible Inc., based in Wayne, NJ, is to combine the growing popularity of spoken audio programming with the rapid development of commercial viability of the Internet. The company is focused on audio content sourcing, development, packaging, delivery, and playback, as well as continued development of the platform, tools, services and varied licensing opportunities afforded by the Audible MobileAudio(TM) System. Audible's business is geared toward the estimated 84 million people who drive alone to work each day, the 40 million mobile workers who spend 20 percent of their time on the road, and other consumers who are looking to enrich those times when their eyes are busy but their minds are free. |
