Ensemble Video, a company that has its origins at Syracuse University (SU) in the mid-2000s, is now under the ownership of a Seattle, Washington firm. Panopto, a video-management system provider for education and enterprises, acquired Ensemble Video in a deal that closed on April 21. The companies didn’t disclose financial terms of their deal. For the time […]
Ensemble Video, a company that has its origins at Syracuse University (SU) in the mid-2000s, is now under the ownership of a Seattle, Washington firm.
Panopto, a video-management system provider for education and enterprises, acquired Ensemble Video in a deal that closed on April 21. The companies didn’t disclose financial terms of their deal.
For the time being, the Ensemble and Panopto brands and platforms will remain separate, but the companies are working through a “strategic collaboration that will open up a number of opportunities” for their customers, according to a spokesman for Panopto.
In September 2022, after a transition period, the Ensemble Video brand will sunset. Efforts are underway to “take the best” of Ensemble Video and build it into Panopto’s platform.
Panopto and Ensemble Video previously competed for customers, but “in many ways, [have] been working together since 2007,” the spokesman said.
About the companies
In 2005, a small team of Syracuse University employees set out to make managing and publishing video content easy for the school. Their efforts led to what became Ensemble Video. The company originally worked from the CASE Center at Syracuse University after inventing the platform. Local employees are now working remotely for Panopto.
Ensemble has five full-time employees, and seven full-time contractors.
The entire Ensemble Video team is now a part of Panopto, and its core team remains in Syracuse and surrounding areas. Some of its independent contractors work in Boston, Massachusetts and Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Scott Nadzan, CEO of Ensemble Video and co-inventor, was a former director of technology services and adjunct instructor at Syracuse University.
Andy Covell, founder, current COO, and co-inventor, was a long-time technology leader and adjunct instructor at Syracuse.
Ensemble Video has dozens of customers, including more than 100 school districts and more than 20 universities in New York that Ensemble Video hopes to continue servicing. Its local customers include Syracuse University, SUNY Cortland, Hamilton College, Nazareth College, and the CNY Regional Information Center.
Besides its Seattle headquarters, Panopto operates offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Sydney, Australia; Singapore; and London, UK. Eric Burns is the CEO of Panopto.
Panopto has more than 180 employees. Panopto is used by every Ivy League school, 22 of the top 25 universities in the world, and a number of “prestigious enterprises,” per the spokesman.