Red Swoosh
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Peer-to-peer file sharing |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Travis Kalanick, Michael Todd |
| Defunct | 2007 |
| Fate | Acquired by Akamai Technologies |
| Successor | Akamai Technologies |
Key people | Travis Kalanick, Michael Todd, Mark Cuban (investor) |
| Products | Peer-to-peer file distribution protocol, SDK for developers |
| Parent | Akamai Technologies |
Red Swoosh was a company specializing in peer-to-peer file sharing, established in 2001 by Travis Kalanick and Michael Todd. In 2007, Akamai Technologies purchased the company through a stock-for-stock deal valued at $18.7 million.
History
Founded in 2001 by Travis Kalanick and Michael Todd, Red Swoosh encountered difficulties during the early 2000s economic downturn. The company underwent recapitalization in 2005, securing $1.7 million in funding from investor Mark Cuban.
Acquisition
Akamai Technologies completed the acquisition of Red Swoosh on April 12, 2007, for $18.7 million, incorporating its peer-to-peer technology into Akamai’s content delivery network.
Description
Red Swoosh engineered a unique peer-to-peer file distribution protocol designed to optimize bandwidth usage when transferring large media files. Its system integrated a centralized directory that indexed online users and caches alongside a peer-to-peer network to enhance file sharing efficiency.
The company provided a software development kit (SDK) aimed at third-party developers, enabling functionalities such as predelivery, RSS feed integration, web widgets, and JavaScript applications. This allowed Red Swoosh’s peer-to-peer distribution technology to be embedded within multiple platforms and services.