Online video platform Mango TV has completed its Series B financing of nearly RMB 1.5 billion (USD 228 million), pushing its valuation to RMB 13.5 billion, according to an insider from Mango TV, Chinese news portal NetEase reported.
Instead of continuing to expand their resources or recruit talent, the fund will be used to help Mango TV develop its own hardware and open source software.
Mango TV is the only internet enterprise in China’s leading television network, Hunan Broadcasting System. Hunan Broadcasting System owns content that includes TV shows such as Happy Camp, Super Girl and I am a Singer, films, music and large-scale events. Mango TV has been granted exclusive access to this potentially valuable pool of intellectual property. Aside from this, Mango TV’s self-made content occupies 38% of their website.
There has been speculation that Alibaba was one of the investors in this series B financing, but as yet this remains unproven. Jack Ma met the senior management of Mango TV in a closed-door meeting in 2015, during which Ma praised Mango TV’s unique resources, according to Netease Tech. He said that Mango TV held a unique position in the market, and that a bright future could be expected. In addition, Alibaba announced in mid June that it would set up a steering group to build upon its culture and entertainment content. However, Mango TV has not divulged information regarding the investors of its Series B financing.
With an annual revenue of RMB 80 million in 2014 and RMB one billion in 2015, Mango TV completed its Series A financing last June, at which time it was evaluated at RMB seven billion. A year later, its evaluation almost doubled to RMB 13.5 billion. Data from Mango TV indicate that its users on personal computers, mobile devices, and over-the-top (OTT) TV have increased dozens of times in the past two years.
(Top photo from pixabay.com)