Rearden
Rearden is a private Mountain View-based incubator founded by Steve Perlman in 2000 that develops fundamental technologies and creative works in stealth before releasing them as spin-off companies, with a portfolio spanning cloud gaming (OnLive), motion capture (MOVA), wireless (pCell/Artemis), and visual effects.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2000
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
Rearden firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Rearden
- Legal name
- Rearden LLC
- Website
- https://rearden.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2000
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Rearden is a private Mountain View-based incubator founded by Steve Perlman in 2000 that develops fundamental technologies and creative works in stealth before releasing them as spin-off companies, with a portfolio spanning cloud gaming (OnLive), motion capture (MOVA), wireless (pCell/Artemis), and visual effects.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Rearden industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Technology Incubator
- NAICS
- Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Virtual Desktop & Application Delivery (VDI/DaaS, Remote Apps) (BPAEAIAC)
Keywords
Where Rearden is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Rearden business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Incubator Model: Rearden provides management, infrastructure and funding to internal projects until they are ready to be released as subsidiaries or spin-off companies with sustainable business models
- Spin-off Companies: OnLive, MOVA, and other companies were spun out from Rearden with their own revenue models including subscription services, hardware sales, and professional services
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Rearden product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Rearden is a privately held incubator that develops fundamental technologies and new art, then spins out mature projects as independent subsidiary companies with their own revenue models. It provides management, infrastructure, and seed funding for internal projects spanning wireless communications (DIDO/pCell), cloud gaming (OnLive), motion capture (MOVA), home entertainment (Moxi), visual effects (IceBlink), video production (Rearden Studios), women's online video (WOA), and diabetes lifestyle solutions (DiABOTS).
Product overview
Rearden is a technology and art innovation incubator founded by Steve Perlman in 2000. The company develops fundamental technologies and creative works, incubating them until ready for market. The portfolio includes OnLive (cloud gaming spun out in 2007), MOVA Contour (Academy Award-winning motion capture technology), Artemis Networks/pCell (revolutionary wireless technology), DiABOTS (diabetes solutions), WOA (women's online content network), Rearden Studios (video production), Rearden Labs (R&D), and IceBlink Studios (visual effects). Projects typically spend years in stealth development before release as subsidiaries or spin-offs.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Rearden Incubator Innovation incubator founded in 2000 by Steve Perlman to develop fundamental technologies and new art, then spin out mature projects as independent subsidiary companies with their own revenue models. Houses multiple creative entities and technology entities operating under the Rearden umbrella.
- OnLive Cloud Gaming Pioneer cloud gaming service delivering real-time interactive console-quality games through the Internet on TVs, PCs, Macs, iPads, iPhones, Android tablets, and OEM devices. Spun out from Rearden in 2007.
- MOVA Contour Reality Capture First photoreal production motion capture system for facial and body capture, providing capture services to film studios and video game developers. Won Academy Award for Visual Effects for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) and was nominated in 2011.
- Artemis Networks / pCell Wireless Breakthrough wireless technology based on DIDO (Distributed-Input Distributed-Output) that delivers full-speed data rate to every mobile device concurrently regardless of user density, enabling effectively unlimited spectrum density.
- DiABOTS Company developing lifestyle solutions for Type 1 Diabetes, founded by Steve Perlman in 2013 as a Rearden incubator project.
- WOA (Women of Action Network) Online HDTV destination network for active women, launched by Steve Perlman in 2005-2006 as part of Rearden's content initiatives.
- Rearden Studios HD video and audio production services including editing for independent films, music videos, and commercial projects. Clients have included Santana and Electronic Arts.
- Rearden Labs Research and development arm of Rearden that incubates game-changing technologies and seed-funds disruptive startups including OnLive, MOVA, Android, Danger, and Moxi.
- IceBlink Studios Visual effects and animation studio co-founded with Doug Chiang that contributed art and production design to major films including War of the Worlds, Monster House, and Beowulf. Merged into Image Movers Digital in 2007.
Companies that use Rearden
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Rearden technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration6 records
Feature5 records
Rearden partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Four partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.
- ViziomajorOnLive built into Vizio HDTVs, Blu-ray players, tablets and mobile devices as OEM integration.
- BTmajorBT signed rights to offer OnLive games via broadband in the UK, providing distribution partnership.
- Ice Blink StudioscoreCo-founded by Steve Perlman with renowned artist Doug Chiang in 2004. Ice Blink's work includes art/production design for major motion pictures War of the Worlds, Monster House, and Beowulf. Ice Blink became part of Image Movers Digital in 2007.
- Moxi DigitalcoreMoxi Digital was co-founded by Steve Perlman in 2000, focused on revolutionizing home entertainment with Moxi Media Center. Moxi later merged with another company in 2002 and its technology was deployed by Comcast, Time Warner, Charter and Adelphia cable TV networks.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves11 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Rearden competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- SRI International: SRI is a major nonprofit R&D institute that has produced foundational technologies (Siri, HDTV, surgical robotics) and spun them out commercially — comparable to Rearden as a research-driven entity that translates breakthrough science into commercial entities.
- NVIDIA (GeForce NOW): GeForce NOW is the incumbent cloud gaming platform that emerged in the category OnLive pioneered. As the dominant survivor in OnLive's space, it is the most material commercial comparison for Rearden's cloud-gaming legacy.
- PARC (Xerox): PARC is an iconic research lab that pioneered laser printing, the graphical user interface, and Ethernet before being spun out of Xerox. It represents a scaled, institutionalized version of Rearden's model of fundamental technology incubation.
- Microsoft Research: Microsoft Research is one of the world's largest industrial research organizations producing fundamental advances in systems, AI, and networking — a scaled institutional analog to Rearden Labs' R&D arm.
- Amazon Lab126: Amazon's internal hardware R&D lab built Kindle, Echo, Fire, and Ring. While inside a much larger parent, Lab126 is a clear analog to Rearden Studios / Rearden Labs as an in-house invention engine that ships consumer hardware innovations.
- Bell Labs: Nokia Bell Labs is the archetypal industrial R&D lab credited with foundational inventions in transistors, UNIX, and cellular systems — comparable to Rearden as a place where fundamental wireless and computing breakthroughs are produced and licensed.
Direct peers
- Alphabet X (formerly Google X): Alphabet's moonshot factory develops radical breakthrough technologies (e.g., Waymo, Loon, Wing) before spinning them into standalone businesses — sharing Rearden's stealth-to-spin-off DNA and willingness to incubate decade-long fundamental-tech bets.
- Idealab: Founded by Bill Gross, Idealab is one of the longest-running technology and business incubators in the US, creating and spinning out companies much like Rearden — making it the closest direct analog to Rearden's incubation model.
- Playground Global: Andy Rubin's deep-tech venture studio incubates startups at the intersection of hardware, AI, and advanced systems. Its model of providing engineering infrastructure and capital to founder-led ventures parallels Rearden's incubation style.
Others
- Skunk Works (Lockheed Martin): Lockheed's Skunk Works is a small, elite R&D unit chartered to develop breakthrough technologies in stealth — sharing Rearden's culture of small, high-leverage teams producing category-defining inventions over long stealth development cycles.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Rearden social profiles
Digital presenceRearden financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Rearden leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Rearden subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries8 records
Rearden funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Rearden M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Rearden
What does Rearden do?
Rearden is a privately held incubator that develops fundamental technologies and new art, then spins out mature projects as independent subsidiary companies with their own revenue models. It provides management, infrastructure, and seed funding for internal projects spanning wireless communications (DIDO/pCell), cloud gaming (OnLive), motion capture (MOVA), home entertainment (Moxi), visual effects (IceBlink), video production (Rearden Studios), women's online video (WOA), and diabetes lifestyle solutions (DiABOTS).
Is Rearden a public or private company?
Rearden is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Rearden founded?
Rearden was founded in 2000. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Rearden based?
Rearden is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Rearden make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Incubator Model is the primary driver. The others are spin-off Companies.
Who are Rearden's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are SRI International, NVIDIA (GeForce NOW), PARC (Xerox), Microsoft Research, Amazon Lab126 and Bell Labs. Direct peers are Alphabet X (formerly Google X), Idealab and Playground Global. Skunk Works (Lockheed Martin) is listed as an others.
Does Rearden have an API?
No public API is recorded for Rearden.
What industry is Rearden in?
Rearden's product category is Technology Incubator. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAEAIAC, Virtual Desktop & Application Delivery (VDI/DaaS, Remote Apps). Its NAICS code is 54171 and its SIC code is 7372.