Quibi, the US-based online video streaming service Quibi backed by e-commerce firm Alibaba, media holding company WndrCo and various film studios, has closed $750m in financing, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
The news represents an update on the round, which stood at $400m as of January this year, and it increased the company’s overall funding to $1.75bn. The WSJ did not disclose the identity of the investors, simply stating they represented new and existing backers.
Quibi is preparing to launch a subscription-based service that will consist of short-form video series covering both narrative fiction and reality-focused programming. It will be introduced next month with a subscription model priced at $4.99 a month with advertising and $7.99 without.
The company’s initial programming will consist of 50 shows with episodes no longer than 10 minutes in length and production values reportedly similar to the leaders in the streaming market such as Netflix or Amazon Prime. It also plans to release new episodes multiple times a week.
Stars signed up for shows on the service include Idris Elba, Jennifer Lopez, Kristen Bell, Tyra Banks, Zac Efron, Usher, Demi Lovato, Megan Rapinoe and Scooter Braun. It sold its first year of advertising in September 2019 for a total of $150m.
Quibi closed its first $1bn in funding in mid-2018 when it was still known as New TV, $200m coming from entertainment and media groups 21st Century Fox, Walt Disney, WarnerBros and Entertainment One.
The company has additionally identified Alibaba, consumer electronics producer Sony’s film division, Sony Pictures Entertainment, private equity firm Madrone Capital Partners and investment banks Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase as investors.
