Ivi, a Russia-based digital streaming platform backed by media group Prof-Media, raised $250m yesterday in a series D round led by financial services firm VTB.
Invest AG, an investment subsidiary of financial services group Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich, also took part in the round, as did Baring Vostok, Flashpoint Venture Capital, Millhouse and Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF).
VTB will be the company’s largest shareholder after the deal, while representatives of Baring Vostok, Flashpoint and RTP Global will all join its board of directors.
Ivi has built an on-demand video service that caters to more than 52 million monthly visitors, offering in excess of 100,000 audiovisual titles across films, cable television, sports, music and children’s programming available for streaming on various devices.
The funding will be used to boost the platform’s library and original content. It has raised approximately $4348m in equity and debt financing altogether, according to Tech.eu. Reuters reported in November 2020 that the company was seeking an initial public offering in the United States this year.
Ivi had received roughly $40m in a mid-2019 round featuring Baring Vostok, Flashpoint, Mubadala Investment Company, RDIF, RTP Global and Winter Capital.
Baring Vostok led a $40m round for the company in 2012 that included Prof-Media, Frontier Venture, RTP Global (then called Ru-Net) and Tiger Global Management. It had reportedly secured several dozen millions of dollars in funding prior to that round.