YuppTV, which distributes TV content over the Internet, is going to raise $50 million in the Series-B funding round. The firm, which has raised $10 million so far, will infuse the amount shortly before going for the Series-B funding from a different set of investors.
Cricket legend Brian Lara formally launched the Indian services of the firm on Wednesday, which is headquartered in the US, and a development centre in Hyderabad. About 90 per cent of the 200 employees work out of Hyderabad.
The firm had registered a turnover of $15 million last year and targets to touch $25 million this financial year. The current investors have a stake of less than 20 per cent and the new funding round could see dilution of about 20 per cent. “We hope to complete the new round of funding in 3-4 months. We are going to use the proceeds to expand operations in India and on customer acquisition,” Uday Reddy, founder and Chief Executive Officer of YuppTV, said.
Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday, he said the company offered about 200 channels in 12 regional languages and a movie library of 5,000 films. “We are in the process of developing a curated video content platform. We have about 10,000 hours of TV content. We will provide real-time recommendations to the viewers,” he said. In the first phase, the firm will focus on metropolitan areas and those who use smart phones.