AioTV, a startup in which Innovacorp invested $1 million a year ago, has raised $8 million by selling a 44 percent stake to UTStarcom Holdings Corp., a publicly listed maker of broadband equipment and solutions for cable and telecom operators.

AioTV (short for All-In-One Television) is the brainchild of native Haligonian Michael Earle, who is now based in Denver though the company’s development and marketing teams are in Halifax. The company has developed a single-platform that can offer service using free video (such as YouTube), live linear TV (traditional networks) and video on demand (Netflix).

UTStarcom, which is based in Beijing and listed on the Nasdaq exchange in New York, released a statement late last week saying it had taken a 44 percent stake in the company, becoming the largest single shareholder and taking a few seats on the board.  Innovacorp said separately that the investment amounted to $8 million and that it was at a higher valuation than the agency’s November 2011 investment.

Gregg Phipps, an Innovacorp Director of Investment and a Director of aioTV, said one of UTStarcom’s subsidiaries is a client of aioTV, and the developing relationship will help both companies. What’s more, the Chinese company has a network of contacts in China, South Korea, the Philippines, Australia and increasingly in the U.S.

“Of fundamental importance is that through our seed investment they have attracted follow-on funding, and that will grow the operation in Halifax,” said Phipps.

The Halifax operation of aioTV now comprises eight people, and the company plans to more than double that with the hiring of eight to 12 people in the near future. There is no plan to increase staffing in the Denver office, said Phipps.

He added that the company is rolling out its flagship project and booked $1 million in revenue in the first six months of 2012.

The company also has a deal with Mexico's Maxcom Telecomunicaciones to use aioTV’s platform to combine cable TV channels, video on demand and Internet content into its Yuzu service, which reaches more than 350,000 subscribers.

"We see emerging markets as some of the most eager adopters of next generation Internet-delivered video services," said Earle in a statement. "This strategic investment from UTStarcom gives us the platform to meet the shift in global video consumption and will accelerate our ability to deploy our technology in some of the fastest growing markets in Asia."