Internet TV maker Baofeng TV announced on Monday that has secured RMB 200 million (USD 30 million) in Series A financing from Ningbo Hangchen Investment Management, who will have 10% shares of Baofeng TV.
The financing pushes the upstart’s valuation to RMB two billion, four times the size of that of a year ago, when Baofeng TV was jointly established in July by Baofeng Technology, Alpha Animation and two other companies.
“In the past year, Baofeng TV has introduced quite a few innovative products and has focused on both online and offline markets,” said Liu Yaoping, CEO of Baofeng TV. “With the financing, we’ll continue working on new services and products for a better user experience.”
Founded in July 2015, Baofeng TV introduced its first generation of Baofeng Super TV in December, and the second generation this May. The upstart Baofeng also unveiled in May the world’s first VR TV Baofeng super TV2 VR TV X-Men version, which provides a 720-degree panorama viewing experience. In addition, its latest 40-inch super TV is priced at a mere RMB 999.
According to Liu Yaoping, Baofeng TV sold over 200,000 TV sets in 2016 Q1, and its annual sales is expected to surpass that of Xiaomi by the end of 2016.
Baofeng TV will further help the development of a chain of businesses owned by Baofeng Technology, a leading video platform, which itself is a main shareholder of Baofeng TV. Baofeng Technology acquired three companies in March with RMB 3.1 billion: the TV production company Straw Bear, online games developer Lidong Keji, and overseas games publisher Gump Tech. Additionally, the Baofeng Technology subsidiary Baofeng Mojing, a VR device maker, secured Series B financing in January.
(Top photo edited from Google Images)