US-based game console manufacturer Ouya has raised $10m in series B funding from e-commerce company Alibaba, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.
Ouya previously raised $15m in a series A round featuring chip maker Nvidia and venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Mayfield Fund, Shasta Ventures and Occam Partners.
The company launched in 2012 with a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, which it hoped would raise $950,000 but eventually brought in $8.6m.
Ouya is the creator of a $99 game console based on the Android mobile operating platform, but it has struggled to grab market share from the dominant players, Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation. Recently, the company has largely focused on licensing its games to other devices outside the US.
According to Wall Street Journal sources, Alibaba and Ouya have discussed integrating Ouya’s software and its library of more than 1,000 games into Alibaba’s own set-top boxes, though a deal is yet to be agreed. Alibaba’s set-top boxes already include games from third-party developers.