Red Swoosh
Red Swoosh was a peer-to-peer file sharing company founded by Travis Kalanick and Michael Todd in 2001. It was acquired by Akamai in 2007 for $19 million.
| Industry | Peer-to-peer file sharing |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder |
|
| Defunct | April 12, 2007 |
| Fate | Acquired by Akamai Technologies |
History
Red Swoosh was founded by Travis Kalanick and Michael Todd in 2001.
The company suffered as a result of the early 2000s recession and was recapitalized in 2005, raising an additional $1.7 million from Mark Cuban.[1]
Acquisition
On April 12, 2007, Akamai Technologies acquired Red Swoosh for $18.7 million in a stock-for-stock transaction.[1]
Description
Red Swoosh used a BitTorrent-like technology to transfer files using peer-to-peer technology.[1]
The Red Swoosh technology included a centralized directory that indexed online clients and caches. The software downloads and sideloads video multicasts from websites that support the Red Swoosh technology. The Red Swoosh peercasting tool is a browser extension that caches data, reflecting and sharing files delivered through the "Swoosh network" or Distributed Network.
Red Swoosh utilizes a proprietary, peer-to-peer (P2P) file distribution protocol designed for bandwidth efficiency in the transfer of large media files.
The company offers a software development kit (SDK) for third-party development. This includes support for predelivery, RSS feeds, web widgets, and JavaScript applications. There is also a forum and a wiki available for the developer community.
References
- Arrington, Michael (2007-04-12). "Payday for Red Swoosh: $15 million from Akamai". TechCrunch. Retrieved 24 February 2024.