Nigerian movie-platform iROKOtv has announced a funding round of US$8mn, which was led by existing investor Tiger Global, and featured further participation from Sweden-based Kinnevik and new investor Rise Capital
The Video-on-Demand (VOD) provider has now raised up to US$21 million, in the process becoming one of the best funded Internet companies currently operating in Africa.
iROKOtv said it would use this latest round of investment to grow traffic, content curation and to build a platform-agnostic distribution system for its one million monthly users.
Capital previously raised by iROKOtv has been used to acquire content and expand the company's tech team in London, as well as to develop mobile websites and applications. The firm has also opened offices in New York and Johannesburg, with its headquarters located in Nigerian capital Lagos.
iROKOtv CEO and co-founder Jason Njoku said, "The US$8mn raised by Tiger Global, Kinnevik and Rise Capital will further fuel our expansion and help us to realise our long-term goal of becoming one of Africa’s pre-eminent media companies.
"We started life three years ago as a Nollywood content aggregator on a YouTube channel and today we find ourselves with a VC-backed dedicated VOD platform, watched in 178 countries around the world, with one million unique visitors a month."
According to iROKOtv, the recently-raised capital will be use to build and transition the company’s audience from a primarily Diaspora base to an African base, as well as migrating from a largely ad-supported model to more of a subscription service.
The company's COO and co-founder Bastian Gotter remarked, "This additional capital allows us to consolidate our position as VOD market leaders for Africa, invest in tech, content and infrastructure and, importantly, we are now in a position to become profitable by 2015, which is an extraordinary feat for any start-up, let alone an African VOD one like ours."
Gotter adding: "We are excited to strengthen this relationship with Nazar Yasin and the Rise Capital team. We look forward to continuing to benefit from their global investment expertise."
Kinnevik President and CEO Mia Brunell Livfors said, "This latest funding round for iROKOtv is testament to the fact that Kinnevik continues to support them on their journey to becoming one of Africa's most exciting and far-reaching media companies."
