Boxee Raises $4 Million To Take On Apple TV, Microsoft, Cable

NYC-based software startup Boxee has raised $4 million to take on heavyweights like Apple (AAPL) and Microsoft (MSFT) as the companies race to be the ones who connect your living room TV to the Internet.

Boxee's set-top box software runs on Macs, PCs, and, via a clever hack, on Apple TV devices. The point: An easy interface to watch Web video like Hulu and CBS shows on your TV or laptop, listen to Internet radio like Last.fm, or watch movies from your computer's hard drive. There's also a requisite "social" layer, which lets you tell your friends what you've been watching, get recommendations, etc. For pre-beta software, it looks good and works well.

Union Square Ventures and Spark Capital, who have been doing a bunch of deals together lately, split the round down the middle. USV's Fred Wilson (SA 100 #1) and Spark's Bijan Sabet (SA 100 #56) join the board.

The money