Samsung confirms Boxee acquisition

PanARMENIAN.Net - Samsung has acquired Boxee, a streaming media startup that develops set top boxes, the company confirmed Wednesday, July 3, Mashable reports.

“Samsung has acquired key talent and assets from Boxee,” a Samsung representative said in a statement. “This will help us continue to improve the overall user experience across our connected devices.”

The Marker, an Israeli business publication, originally reported Wednesday that Boxee had been acquired for $30 million. Calcalist, another Israeli outlet, confirmed the news and noted that Samsung would keep Boxee's staff employed.

Samsung did not confirm the price tag of the acquisition, Mashable says, but if true, it would be low for Boxee. The startup, which operates out of New York and Tel Aviv, has raised $26.7 million to date. If the acquisition price is accurate, it would barely cover the amount of money invested into the company.

The news of Boxee's acquisition is not entirely surprising. AllThingsD reported in mid-June that Boxee was either looking to raise more money or else looking for potential buyers. Around the same time, VentureBeat reported that the company had been acquired, but not didn't know by whom.

The acquisition could help Samsung in the increasingly competitive smart TV market. Intel confirmed earlier this year that it is planning to build a smart TV, and Apple is widely rumored to be working on its own as well.

This marks the second notable Israeli startup acquisition in as many months. Google acquired Waze, a mapping company, for just more than $1 billion in June.