San Francisco-based TokBox, which is offering a simplified way to do online video chat, has raised a $4 million initial round from Sequoia Capital and assorted angel investors. Among them is Jawed Karim, co-founder of YouTube. Unlike other video chat systems, TokBox requires no software download and no registration. It also allows users to embed a video message on other sites, such as blogs or MySpace pages. Of course, video chat has generally failed to live up to its hype for a long time, but the company thinks that by making the process easier, it will be able to succeed where others have failed. Release. Tons of competition from others such as PalTalk, Paltalk, Stickcam, Operator911, Mogulus, Kyte.tv and the recently relaunched Justin.tv

There’s more on the company in the New York Times today, which plays up its auspicious similarities to YouTube, both having launched out of offices at Sequoia Capital.