Synacor
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology, Services |
| Founded | January 1998 |
| Founder | George Chamoun, Darren Ascone |
| Headquarters | Buffalo, New York , United States |
Area served | United States, United Kingdom, India, Singapore, Japan |
Key people | Ron Frankel (former CEO) |
| Products | Email and collaboration solutions (Zimbra), identity management, TV Everywhere authentication services (Cloud ID) |
| Website | synacor |
Synacor Inc. is a technology and services firm based in the United States, with its main office located in Buffalo, New York. The company delivers email and collaboration solutions through Zimbra and offers identity management and TV Everywhere authentication services via Cloud ID. Additional corporate locations include London, Pune, Singapore, and Tokyo.
History
Chek.com was established in January 1998 by George Chamoun and Darren Ascone, who were roommates at the University of Buffalo. This Buffalo-originated company initially provided email infrastructure, featuring affinity-branded free email accounts under domains such as Budweiser.com and Yankeesfan.net. It also offered Business E-Communications services, allowing companies to outsource their email hosting to enhance their professional presence.
As an early adopter of the LAMP technology stack, Chek.com supported the PHP community by hosting the official PHP website for several years.
In 2000, Chek.com merged with MyPersonal, a portal provider from San Francisco, leading to the formation of Synacor. The newly combined company broadened its service portfolio to include ISPs, cable providers, and telecom operators, beginning with email hosting for BlueLight ISP customers under the 'mybluelight' brand.
By 2003, Synacor was delivering premium online content services tailored for small to mid-sized ISPs, handling complexities such as registration, rights management, and billing. This service line evolved into Synacor's TV Everywhere offerings, playing a role in establishing industry standards for Home-Based authentication through involvement with the Open Authentication Technology Committee (OATC) and Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM). Furthermore, Synacor's TV Everywhere authentication influenced Apple's Single sign-on (SSO) technology.
Synacor initially filed for an initial public offering in 2007 but withdrew the application in 2008. The company successfully launched its IPO on NASDAQ () in early 2012 at $5.00 per share. Ron Frankel held the CEO position from 2001 until his departure in 2014.
In 2015, Synacor expanded by acquiring Zimbra, an open source suite for email, calendaring, and collaboration, as well as NimbleTV. The following year saw the acquisition of Technorati to grow its advertising segment. In 2016, Synacor took over as AT&T’s portal provider from Yahoo!, though this agreement reverted back to Yahoo! in 2019. Additionally, Synacor supports authentication services for HBO Go.
A proposed merger with Minnesota-based Qumu Corporation was announced in February 2020, where Synacor shareholders would own 64% of the combined company; however, both parties mutually ended the merger plans by June 2020.
In 2021, Centre Lane Partners, an investment firm, took Synacor private, resulting in its removal from the Nasdaq Global Market. Later that year, iMedia Brands acquired Synacor’s portal and advertising divisions. In November 2022, Synacor moved its Buffalo headquarters from Waterfront Village to HANSA Workspace.
References