China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. has entered the Indian video streaming market by infusing $110.8 million (about Rs 786.5 crore) in MX Player, joining over three dozen local and global players that are fighting to grab a slice of the market. This would be the second external fundraise for the firm that was acquired by Times Internet in early-2018.
MX Player, now owned by Times Internet, will use the funds to enhance its content portfolio by producing more original programming, expanding to other genres, and increasing its talent pool, Chief Executive Officer Karan Bedi told BloombergQuint in an interview. Bedi said 20 more originals are slated to be produced in six months.
“Existing investor Tencent will join the round with a sizeable chunk along with an American late-stage investor,” said one of the sources requesting anonymity. “The fresh round, which is in the range of $100-150 million, will be executed at over $900 million valuations and the company may become a unicorn.”
This is the first investment in the video streaming platform since it was acquired last year by Times Internet, a unit of the Indian media conglomerate Bennett Coleman & Co. Times Internet also participated in the latest funding, Bedi said. The deal values MX Player at around $500 million, according to a person privy to the development who declined to be named as details aren’t public.
