Roku, a US-based television (TV) internet streaming company, has raised $60m in its series F round from a host of media-focused corporate venturing units.
Mutual fund manager Fidelity led the round, and was joined by publisher Hearst’s corporate venturing unit, satellite television group BSkyB and its media parent, News Corp.
In July last year, US-listed media company News Corporation, which holds a controlling stake in BSkyB, and its UK-listed satellite subsidiary jointly invested $45m in Roku.
The two media companies were joined by venture capital firms Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners, as well as an unnamed strategic investor, now understood to be internet film distributor Netflix.
Roku was founded in 2002 by Anthony Wood, the inventor of the digital video recorder and has raised about $127m in aggregate.
He said: “BSkyB and News Corporation are exceptional partners and we look
forward to deepening our relationship with Hearst in the months to come.”
Roku is working with two dozen original equipment manufacturers that are making more than 3.5 million Roku Ready devices, predominantly TVs, that will be in retail by the end of the year. Roku Ready devices access the Roku 3 platform, which streamed more than
one billion hours of video and music last year, through the Roku Streaming Stick. In the coming months, Roku will continue to expand access points to its streaming platform.
Ken Bronfin, senior managing director at Hearst Ventures, said: “We are truly impressed that Roku has built such a unique position in the market and we look forward to working with them to develop innovative products and services for our television audiences.”