ROKU

Roku, Inc.

A maker of streaming players and smart TVs, Roku turns regular televisions into internet-connected screens, gathering apps like Netflix, Hulu and its own free Roku Channel into one home screen. It began when founder Anthony Wood, while working at Netflix, built a streaming box that Netflix decided not to make itself—so it spun the project off in 2008 as an independent company. The name "Roku" is the Japanese word for "six," because it was Wood's sixth company.