Verizon, others, invest in video tech company Skyfire

REUTERS - The venture arm of Verizon Communications Inc and others have invested $8 million in video technology company Skyfire, which plans to expand into European and Asian markets.

The other investors are Lightspeed Venture Partners, Matrix Partners and Trinity Ventures.

California-based Skyfire, best known for its mobile browser, helps operators handle the surging demand for video on cellphones. It has now raised a total of $30.8 million, the company said in a statement on Wednesday.

Data growth on mobile networks is expected to rise almost 30-fold during next five years as consumers increasingly watch video on wireless devices.

"Wireless operators around the world are facing an explosion in mobile data on their networks, driven largely by mobile video," Andrew Verhalen, general partner at Matrix Partners, said in a statement.

"Skyfire is well positioned with solutions for operators that can expand network capacity by over 25 percent, as well as generate incremental revenue."

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; editing by Andre Grenon)