Joost's €16m debt bill

Joost, another Friis and Zennstrom high profile venture, is also in the spotlight this week with details emerging of the collapsed company’s insolvency.
 
PaidContent.org reports that the closure of the IPTV’s UK office last month was technically a declaration of the company’s insolvency, with debts tipping  €16 million.
 
Creditors topping Joost’s insolvency lists include BT and PWC along with 52 other companies. Significantly one of the creditors owned the most money is Joost NV, the parent company which according to PaidContent’s documents is owed €7.92  million.
 
The documents also reveal that insolvency was declared following Joost’s announcement that it would switch from an IPTV content portal to white-label video platform, which also coincided with Mike Volpi’s exit from Joost as CEO.
 
Joost made that announcement and its intention to shut down its offices in the UK and the Netherlands in July.
 
At the height of its growth Joost boasted 200 staff worldwide but following cut backs at the end of last year, headcount was reduced to around 100.
 
The company had been struggling for some time to commercialize its online video streaming proposition and in April speculation spread that it was up for sale.
 
 C21 also reports that global ad network Adconion, is currently in negotiations to buy Joost’s assets. Neither party has confirmed or denied the reports. Adconion is partially funded by Joost investor Index Ventures, of which Volpi is a partner.