M17 Entertainment, a Taiwan-based online media provider backed by internet company Yahoo Japan and online streaming platform LeSports, has raised $25m in a funding round led by angel investor Terry Tsang.
Pavilion Capital, the growth equity firm formed by Singaporean state-owned investment firm Temasek, and Stonebridge Ventures also took part in the round alongside undisclosed existing investors.
Formed through an April 2017 merger of livestreaming platform 17 Media and dating app Paktor, M17 is also the operator of networking app Goodnight.
The company said it will use the money to invest in its technical infrastructure, add new features to 17 Media and offer training and advice to online streamers. It also plans to bring in new investment in the next couple of months.
M17 filed for an initial public offering filed in May this year to raise $115m but withdrew the offering two months later.
The company had priced a $60.1m initial public offering, sized at nearly half its original $115m target, but failed to list without offering an explanation.
A month before it formally withdrew, the company had secured $35m from Infinity Venture Partners, Majuven, Convergence and Global Grand Capital.
M17 had received $40m in an August 2017 round led by Infinity Venture Partners that included Yahoo Japan, Vertex Ventures, Majuven, Golden Summit Capital and KTB Ventures.
Media group Media Nusantara Citra (MCN), Yahoo Japan’s YJ Capital unit, Vertex Asia Fund, Global Grand Leisure, Majuven, Convergence Ventures, Golden Equator Capital, Sebrina Holdings and K2 Global has provided $52.5m for Paktor before the merger.
LeSports Innovation Fund, a subsidiary of online streaming platform LeSports, invested $23m in 17 Media in 2016, a year after Infinity Venture Partners and entrepreneur Sicong Wang had backed the company’s $10m series A round.