Entertainment and media group 21st Century Fox provided $100m of funding yesterday for US-based broadcasting platform Caffeine in the form of equity financing and capital for a joint venture called Caffeine Studios.
The equity funding was supplied as part of a larger round of undisclosed size that also featured unnamed additional participants including venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners.
Caffeine is developing an online platform that allows users to livestream content while also connecting to and discovering other broadcasters. Users can interact with each other in real time and the platform prioritises personal conversations above open text feeds.
The product is still at the pre-release stage but Caffeine is seeking partners to provide content, and Caffeine Studios is intended to use Fox’s resources to secure eSports, gaming, sport and live entertainment content for the platform.
The company has also signed an agreement with live event promoter Live Nation that will involve concerts being livestreamed through the platform from late 2018.
Lachlan Murdoch, shortly to be chairman and CEO of the new ‘Fox’ company that will be formed following the corporate’s forthcoming merger with competitor Walt Disney Company, will join Caffeine’s board of directors in connection with his company’s investment.
Murdoch said: “The combination of the Caffeine platform with a content studio that benefits from Fox Sports’ expertise in live events and programming will help position Caffeine to deliver compelling experiences in esports, video gaming and entertainment.
“We are excited to partner with Caffeine and build something special for fans in the growing live social streaming eSports and gaming space.”
Caffeine had previously raised $46m but has not disclosed precise details of the rounds, which consist of a Greylock-led series A round in 2016 and a round led by Andreessen Horowitz that closed in February 2017.