Atlanta native and serial entrepreneur Rodney Sampson began his career in technology when he co-founded streaming startup Multicast Media Technologies Inc. Two decades and a few name changes later, Sampson is leading the company again.
The full-circle moment is an opportunity to innovate in streaming using the legacy technology infrastructure and capabilities of Multicast Media, which was reorganized as Piksel Group, Sampson said.
Sampson Acquisitions, a venture led by Sampson and his wife Shanterria Sampson, signed the deal to buy the four companies in Piksel Group — Piksel Americas, Piksel France, Kewego Espana and Streaming Faith — and rebranded to Piksel Technology Corp. Sampson declined to give the financial details of the deal.
Piksel Tech allows clients to stream any type of content in any format, including live, pre-recorded or on-demand, onto any platform simultaneously. Clients could use that technology to create dynamic video advertising, a 24-hour digital channel or training materials for employees. The technology is also compatible with virtual and augmented reality.
Sampson founded Multicast Media Technologies in 2000. The founders sold the company to KIT Digital Inc. for $24 million in 2010. The company became Piksel Group in 2013 with 500 employees worldwide.
Piksel Tech has a 10,000-square-foot office in Marietta near Truist Park and now has 35 employees. The Sampsons plan to repurpose the office into a collaboration space for the company’s customers and make key hires in the coming weeks.
The company has 100 customers, including Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE: DAL), Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) and Howard University Radio.
Sampson decided to return to the company after getting calls from organizations looking for a streaming service when the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person events. He and his wife realized that underrepresented groups, which Sampson says are not usually the target audience for technology companies, didn’t have good streaming resources.
One of the Sampsons’ first steps is to relaunch the Streaming Faith brand, which provides live-streaming services for churches and was popular with predominantly Black churches, Sampson said.
Since his days operating the streaming company, Sampson has invested his time into increasing opportunities for people of color in the technology sector.
Sampson is the chief executive and founder of Opportunity Hub, an Atlanta organization that aims to create an inclusive tech and investment ecosystem. He is a general partner at 100 Black Angels & Allies, a fund that aims to invest in Black-owned startups. Sampson is also an expert at The Brookings Institution and a visiting professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University.
Correction: A previous version of this article misstated how many employees Piksel Group had before the acquisition. This has since been corrected.
