It will also use the funding to equip live streamers with more resources to expand and diversify their reach

Social entertainment platform M17 Entertainment, a merged company between Singapore-based dating platform Paktor and Taiwanese video streaming platform 17 Media, has raised US$25 million in a round led by Terry Tsang, CEO of Hong Kong-based mobile game developer Madhead.

Other participating investors include Pavilion Capital and Stonebridge Ventures as well as several existing investors.

The company expects to raise additional funding in the next two months.

M17 Entertainment will use the newly-raised capital for R&D to enhance its platform tech in order to improve interaction between live streamers and users.

It will also channel part of the funding to help live streamers grow and diversify their reach by equipping them with resources such as expert advisors, training curriculum and expose them to different aspects of show business.

The company will also build a “systematic process to discover, train and promote streamers”.

Also Read: Korea’s Viva Republica raises US$80M to expand in Southeast Asia

“We hope to empower individuals to realize their dreams of stardom; to award them with a stage to showcase their talents to a global audience,” said Joseph Phua, Co-founder, and CEO of M17 Entertainment.

“We aim to perfect the art of live entertainment, by developing and seamlessly integrating engaging content. Built on a strong foundation of resources and talents, we can drive deeper interaction between content creators and users,” he said.

In a press release, the company said it is on track to achieve US$180 million in annual revenues this year, owing to a myriad of positive trends such as strong performance in the Japanese live entertainment market.

M17 Entertainment currently has offices in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, the US., and Malaysia, and employs close to 600 people worldwide.

Last year it raised a US$40 million Series A round from investors including Infinity Venture Partners (IVP), Vertex, Yahoo Japan, Majuven, Golden Summit Capital and Korean venture firm, KTB Ventures.

In June this year, the company shelved an IPO attempt on the New York Stock Exchange after failing to meet its fundraising target.

—

Image Credit: M17 Entertainment

The post M17 Entertainment raises US$25M for R&D and more appeared first on e27.

Source: E27