Boxing clever to capture TV show data

Two entrepreneurs have set out to change the way people find the shows they want to watch on TV.

Eoin Dowling and Kevin Burkitt have set up Boxfish in Silicon Valley to develop technology which can index every word spoken on television in real time.

“Our aim is to index TV the way Google has indexed the web.

“We have created a platform which captures every word spoken and collects and processes the data,’’ said Mr Dowling, Boxfish’s CEO.

Set up in 2011, the firm has already sold to Samsung, as well as to a number of cable and TV networks and advertisers. Last year, it expanded its business to this side of the Atlantic and set up an Irish subsidiary to aid ongoing research& and has also begun discussions with TV companies in the UK.

The Irish entrepreneurs had previously set up Red Circle Technology in Dublin, a firm which offered ringtones and mobile content in the pre-smart phone era, and which had revenues of $50m when they sold it in 2008.

Mr Dowling got the idea for Boxfish from watching subtitles with someone with hearing impairment. It occurred to him that these captions were an unused resource which could be indexed and used to find content.

“The problem with TV is that it offers a thin layer of data — just a programme title and a time. We set out to capture what a programme is about — to create a search engine that allows people to find content they are interested in. They can key in a topic and find a programme dealing with this topic”

The task of capturing this kind of data was huge and it needed significant funding, which was one of the reasons that Boxfish founders chose Silicon Valley. “Venture Capital companies in the US go for big ideas — we developed a prototype and raised €3m,” Mr Dowling said, adding that having previously set up a successful company was a big help with the fundraising.

Samsung expressed an interest in the company at a very early stage and went on to become one of its first customers and also invested $4m (€3m) at a later stage. “Samsung uses the platform to find out what customers are watching and to create new apps and products in its smart TV platform,” he said.

He said no company had done this type of indexing before. By 2012 it was processing the data of 1,000 channels and applied for its first patent. The following year, Samsung became its first customer and the company signed a partnership agreement with DirecTV and opened a research& centre in Dublin.

Supported by Enterprise Ireland, which identified the Irish subsidiary as a high-potential start up, the company looked for B round funding this year. It secured $7m from a group of investors led by Dublin- based Atlantic Bridge Ventures and Samsung and which also included Enterprise Ireland.

The company has a staff of 25, including seven data scientists in the Dublin office and has also opened a New York office.

Mr Dowling said Boxfish customers include broadcasters, cable companies, and TV manufacturers and this year advertisers have begun using the platform.

The company has gained traction in the US earlier than anticipated.

“Securing Samsung as a first customer was a massive help — it was very significant that a company of Samsung’s size could trust a small start up,’’ Mr Dowling said, adding that subsequent customers include Dish, a cable company with 23m subscribers.

Planning to use the Dublin office to develop sales in Europe, Boxfish has added content from UK and Irish TV to its platform and is talking to both Sky and BBC. Future plans include the indexing of Spanish content to target the South American and Spanish markets.