Suranga Chandratillake: Blinkx TV

Suranga Chandratillake
Age: 28
Company: Blinkx TV

Chandratillake admits he was amazed that Google initially focused only on web page searches, omitting a vital growth area – online videos. After raising £5m in funding, Chandratillake and his team developed intelligent software that would ‘listen’ and ‘watch’ real-time videos and pull them onto his search portal, Blinkx. The first content partner was Fox News, with deals ranging from MTV to Playboy being signed since. Through offices in Cambridge and San Francisco, Blinkx is set to forge further significant partnerships in 2007, with search numbers set to triple by the end of the year.

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The video platform has seen explosive growth in the last 7 years, posting record profits of $17.7m for the year ending March 2013 – an eight-fold increase on its 2012 profit figures, driven mainly by its groundbreaking coverage of the US presidential election and the 2012 Summer Olympics. The firm has developed lucrative advertising and monetisation partnerships with the likes of Fox News, Disney and Siemens, from which the firm now sources 95% of its revenue. Founder Chandratillake stepped down as chief executive in 2013.

In 2014, Chandratillake joined investment house Balderton Capital as general partner. The venture fund focuses on early stage European technology businesses and its portfolio includes Bebo, Betfair, BookaTable and Citymapper.