Roku provides a TV streaming platform built on its proprietary Roku OS that allows developers to release channels and content worldwide, delivered to millions of devices including the company’s players. It is distributed through streaming players and via licensing arrangements with global TV OEMs and pay TV operators. The company generates revenue from retail sales of streaming players, licensing arrangements with TV OEMs and pay TV operators, and from content consumption, promotion and advertising sales on the platform. A regulatory filing with the SEC disclosed that Roku raised $45.5M in funding. The round saw participation from 14 unnamed backers. Roku is led by CEO Anthony Wood. Roku develops a streaming software platform and sells consumer streaming players (including the Roku 3 and Roku Streaming Stick) to deliver video, music and casual games to TVs. The company is broadening distribution by working with roughly two dozen OEMs producing more than 3.5 million Roku Ready devices, predominantly TVs, and plans to expand access points to its platform in the coming months. Roku has sold more than 5 million streaming players in the U.S. and its players are also available in Canada, the U.K. and the Republic of Ireland. In 2012 Roku streamed more than one billion hours of video and music. The new funding is intended to ready the company for growth around its streaming software and services businesses. Roku is privately held, was founded by Anthony Wood, and is headquartered in Saratoga, Calif. Roku operates a streaming platform and a line of streaming players that deliver video, music and casual games to televisions. The company launched the first player to stream Netflix to the TV in 2008 and today streams more than 500 entertainment channels to millions of customers. Roku streaming players are sold in the U.S., Canada, U.K. and the Republic of Ireland. Roku plans to expand its platform beyond players with the upcoming Roku Streaming Stick and by extending into Smart TVs and other TV-connected devices. The company said it will use new capital to build brand awareness through advertising, develop new international markets, and increase engineering and production to support sales growth of both hardware and digital media services. Roku also intends to grow digital service offerings including advertising, games, transactional and pay-per-view video and content packages. Roku produces consumer streaming devices that deliver web video and apps to televisions; its device lineup centers on Netflix’s app and also supports Hulu. Weeks before this raise the company released the Roku 2 XS, which adds games and motion controllers (Angry Birds was promoted as a flagship title) and retails for $100. The company is branching beyond pure streaming into gaming and interactive features while remaining competitive on price with products like Apple TV. Roku spun off from Netflix three years earlier and was founded by Anthony Wood, who previously founded BrightSign and invented the DVR. Whether Roku will integrate BrightSign’s digital-signage technology with its streaming products remains unclear. Financially, Roku has sold $8.0 million in this funding round and is seeking an additional $750,000.

Total raised

$159M

Funding rounds

4

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Feb 2016