Motionbox Raises $6M for Personal Video

Motionbox, which has carved out a nice spot in the market for its paid personal video-sharing service, has raised $6 million in a Series C round led by Constellation Ventures and including Canaan Partners and SAS Investors.

Alongside the round, the New York City-based company said it has promoted Josh Grotstein to CEO. Grotstein was a founding partner of Motionbox investor SAS Investors, and joined the startup as COO last spring. Founder and former CEO Chris O’Brien will now be chairman of the board and EVP of strategy and corporate development.

The company attributed the leadership change to Grotstein’s operational experience and understanding of how to scale a business.

What differentiates Motionbox from other video sites is that it charges users $29.99 for its premium service. The company recently received a boost when AOL Video recommended the service to users after discontinuing its own user uploads. Motionbox provided former AOL users with an upgraded version of its free service and a discount on its paid service. The company says it now has 1 million registered users.

Motionbox, which has 25 employees, raised a $7 million Series B round from the same investors back in December 2007. Its total funding to date is $17.2 million. Competitors include One True Media, though that company (which also just raised funding) is now focused on its ad creation tools for small businesses.