Ustream Adds Former WebEx and Yammer Executives to Accelerate Company Growth

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ustream Inc., the leader in live, social streaming video, today announced the appointment of two new executive team members: David Thompson, the former chief marketing officer of WebEx, joins as senior vice president of marketing and Matt Imbach, the former vice president of finance at Yammer, joins as vice president of finance.  Thompson and Imbach bring extensive leadership experience from both startup and large established companies to further drive growth and market awareness for Ustream.

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"Today, live, social video is the new way to broadcast, from everyday life events, to celebrity announcements, corporate communications and protests around the world," said Brad Hunstable, CEO and co-founder of Ustream. "Ustream is rapidly expanding business to monetize both live video content and broadcaster products. David and Matt's experiences in both media and SaaS companies will enable Ustream to increase momentum as the leading live, social video platform."

"I'm very excited to join Ustream as the live video market is poised for massive growth," remarked Thompson. "The rapid growth stage Ustream finds itself in now is highly reminiscent of the early stages of the Web conferencing market and Ustream already enjoys a dominant position in the market.  I'm looking forward to increasing the company's brand footprint and helping drive significant upside in revenue and traffic."

Thompson joins Ustream with more than 20 years of both startup and established software company experience. Prior to his current position, Thompson was the CEO and co-founder of SaaS marketing company Genius.com, where he grew the company to more than 70 employees, achieved over 2,000 percent revenue growth and raised more than $45 million in venture capital from top tier venture capital firms such as Accel and MDV. Earlier, Thompson served as the chief marketing officer of WebEx, where he named and launched the company, positioned it as a leading business brand and managed award-winning branding campaigns and IPO communications.  Thompson is a graduate of Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in humanities.  He will lead the company's branding, product marketing and corporate communications.

"Ustream's unique business model gives it significant competitive advantage," noted Imbach. "We have an exciting opportunity to drive scalable growth with both high margin products and media properties that will allow the company to grow very rapidly."

Imbach joins Ustream with more than a decade of experience in emerging growth companies, specifically in the technology industry in Silicon Valley. Prior to Ustream, Imbach was the vice president of finance for Yammer, where he led the core financial functions for the company. He has also held senior finance roles at Ning, Joyent and Xoom. Imbach is a graduate of West Virginia University with a Bachelor of Science in finance. He will manage the company's finances and HR.

Over the past year, Ustream has seen an increase in adoption and growth for its live video stream capabilities and content. In 2011, global viewers tuned into more than two million live and recorded broadcasts. Every month, about 51 million viewers visit Ustream and all together those viewers have watched 49 million hours of content per month with an average view time of 43.6 minutes per unique visitor. In 2012, Ustream has become ubiquitous with citizen journalist as citizen unrest erupts around the world and Internet access is limited.

About Ustream
Ustream Inc. is the leader in live and interactive video streaming. The interactive platform connects broadcasters and viewers of unlimited size through innovative technology including co-hosting video features, IRC chat, Facebook and Twitter. Ustream's free and premium solutions allow any broadcaster to create their own customizable channel with robust social and notification features to enhance visibility and virility across multiple platforms. In addition to activating the embeddable features on external websites, users are able to broadcast and view content while interacting in real-time directly from mobile phone devices, tablets, streaming players, smart TVs and more. The company attracts millions of users ranging from music artists, celebrities, politicians, athletes, corporate executives, animal enthusiasts and gamers, all which have contributed to Ustream's Guinness World Record for the "Most Content Ingested by an Online Video Service." For more information, visit www.ustream.com and follow Ustream's socials: Twitter (@Ustream); Facebook (facebook.com/Ustream).

SOURCE Ustream Inc.