• iflix

  Participated · Equity · Jul 2019

  Iflix operates a subscription streaming video service focused on Southeast Asia and other emerging markets. The company has been expanding its regional content relationships and added several media companies as strategic investors. It currently reports 17 million active users, up from 9 million six months earlier. Seven months ago Iflix sold its remaining shares in its Africa business, Kwesé Iflix, to concentrate on Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company has raised more than $350 million to date and is preparing for a potential public offering. The latest funding will be used for growth ahead of that possible IPO. Iflix is an Asia-based streaming service offering a Netflix-style, mobile-focused video platform priced around $3 per month and available in 19 countries across Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The company targets mass-market viewers on lower-end devices and poorer-quality internet, focusing on local and regional content, originals, and live sports such as Indonesia's soccer league. It began broadcasting original programming earlier this year and hired Sean Carey, formerly VP of global television at Netflix, as chief content officer. Iflix reported five million registered users in March and said it has seen a 3X increase in subscriber numbers, a 2X rise in user engagement, and revenue up 230% year-on-year, though raw figures remain undisclosed. Founded in May 2015, the company plans to use the new funding to expand its local content library, pursue exclusives and first-runs, and potentially enter new regions such as Latin America. iflix provides a Netflix-like streaming service that emphasizes localized programming, regional payment options and partnerships with mobile operators. The service is available in nine Asian countries and in parts of the Middle East and Africa via an iflix Arabia joint venture with Zain. Price positioning is materially lower than Western competitors (example: in Thailand iflix is ~100 THB/month versus Netflix at ~280 THB/month). The company is pursuing original content and broader global expansion while also restructuring operations—recently cutting ~50 of ~650 staff with plans to hire ~200 roles over nine months. Operating metrics disclosed in coverage include over 1 million users in Indonesia, 100,000 registered users in Pakistan within the first month, and an updated total of five million registered users. A source cited a post-money valuation around $500 million following the new raise. iFlix is a one-year-old, Southeast Asia–focused streaming TV service and joint venture between Malaysia’s Catcha Group and U.S.-based Evolution Media Capital. It operates in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines and charges upwards of about $3 per month. The company has strategic backers including film giant MGM and recently added UK broadcaster Sky as an investor. iFlix previously raised $30 million from Catcha, PLDT and Jungle Ventures to expand across Southeast Asia. Management has indicated plans to expand further into Indonesia and to grow across Asia, with discussions about raising up to $150 million to enter Africa, Latin America and other emerging markets. Sky said the investment is strategic and that the two parties will work together to identify areas of future collaboration, including potential access to Sky’s programming library. iFlix is a video-on-demand service announced in March as a Netflix-like offering for Southeast Asia. It plans an initial rollout in Q2 2015 targeting the Philippines and Malaysia and aims to expand to more countries in the region. The company says its catalog contains over 10,000 hours of content and will invest in producing original programming. iFlix has stated it will work with local and regional production companies rather than independent producers on original content. To support its launch and growth it secured a $30 million pre-launch capital injection from Catcha and PLDT. The funds are earmarked to broaden country coverage, increase the catalog, and finance a marketing push as iFlix competes with regional entrants such as HOOQ and other services expanding in Asia.

No current team members are available.