SAIF Partners backed Online video portal iStream.com has called it quits, after failing to raise its Series B round of funding. Last week, there had been rumors that a VC backed mobile video service was in talks with iStream for an acquisition, but both Ramachandran and representatives of the other company had denied any deal when MediaNama had checked with them. A notice has been put up on the site by its Founder and CEO Radhakrishnan Ramachandran, informing users that iStream is shutting down. The company claimed that it had advertising traction and 6.1 million uniques and 12 million video views in April 2013, but due to issues of insufficient capital, had to shut shop. Ramachandran writes that "While one could debate the best business model for a digital media product like ours – whether India is an ad driven digital economy; or whether the market is ripe for experimenting with a subscription model, the fact remains that online video is a capital intensive business, requiring patience and cash flows. This is not unique to us or India, that is how it has been everywhere." iStream had raised $5 million from SAIF Partners in November 2011. It appears that Ramachandran plans to start up again. The notice asks his team whether they are ready to start all over again, and there's more to follow "One leg of our journey may be over before we reached the destination. Rest assured, the second leg of that journey begins, and this will be…
