iflix secures new round of funding

• Funds to drive growth ahead of a prospective IPO
• Round was cornerstoned by Fidelity International

IFLIX, Southeast Asia’s largest digital entertainment service, on July 22 announced the finalisation of a new round of investment to drive growth ahead of a prospective IPO.

This round was cornerstoned by Fidelity International, a global asset manager with US$379.2 billion (RM1.5 trillion) assets under management as at Dec 31, 2018.

As part of the round, iflix also welcomes some of the region’s top media companies to the register including Indonesia’s MNC, Japan’s Yoshimoto Kogyo, and South Korea’s JTBC.

This complements the continued investment by the founders Catcha Group, and strategic shareholders Hearst, Sky and EMC, each of whom also participated in the round.

Whilst the final size of the round has not been disclosed, the total is well in excess of US$50 million (RM205.41 million).

The successful funding round provides iflix with significant firepower to aggressively pursue growth strategies and further increase the active userbase which surpassed 17 million in May 2019, up from nine million six months earlier.

iflix co-founder and chairman Patrick Grove (pic), said, “We are incredibly proud to have Fidelity International cornerstone this latest round of funding, along with investments from all our major shareholders and some of the region’s most significant media companies.

“These investments are a clear affirmation of iflix’s business model and growth prospects, and strengthens our ties to some of the region’s largest providers of local content. We have a strong pipeline of new content and are excited to be making our most extensive ever content offering available to our millions of users across the region.”