Singapore-based video streaming website Viki closed a $20m series B round yesterday with backing from SK Planet, a subsidiary of mobile telecommunication company SK Telecom and BBC Worldwide, the commercial subsidiary of the television company.
The participants in the round were made up from existing investors including venture capital firms Greylock Partners, Andreessen Horowitz, Charles River Ventures and early stage incubator Neoteny Labs.
The four venture firms previously invested in Viki’s series A round in December, which raised $4.3m. The money enabled Viki to launch. Viki will use the cash obtained in this round to hire additional staff, make additional upgrades to the site, and support partnerships with broadcasters around the world.
Viki provides a unique service in that it provides translated versions of TV series, feature films and other content from around the world. Viki estimates the content on its site has been translated into more than 150 languages.
Greg Park, executive vice president of SK Planet, said: "The ViKi team is poised to make premium video content accessible to hundreds of millions of people on scale, and as a strategic investor and partner we are eager to collaborate with ViKi to grow a global go-to platform for entertainment. ViKi is a win-win for viewers and content owners that want to reach new fans globally."
In addition to providing funding to Viki, BBC Worldwide has licensed more than 30 prime-time series to the website to be translated. Viki has also signed agreements with US broadcaster NBC Universal, TVB from Hong Kong, SBS from South Korea, Fuji TV from Japan and Amedia from Russia.
Daniel Heaf, executive vice president of digital at BBC Worldwide, said: "We’re delighted to be breaking new ground in the digital space by being the first British broadcaster to partner with ViKi. It has long been our objective to better digitally distribute more BBC and British programming to new audiences, and ViKi will help us achieve this."