Hungama raises $25 million funding, led by Xiaomi

The funding will help the media entertainment platform expand its library and infuse world class technology into its mobile app platforms, Hungama Music and Hungama Play

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Mumbai | April 5, 2016

India's largest digital media entertainment company, Hungama, has raised an investment of US $25 million, led by smart phone company Xiaomi, along with its existing investors, Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Indian billionaire, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Citibank acted as exclusive financial advisor to Hungama on this transaction.

Hungama is a pioneer in digital media entertainment, having begun operations 17 years ago. The company has constantly innovated and delivered differentiated, premium audio and video content across web and mobile platforms to fuel its growth. It is today the largest overall digital platform in India. Hungama has more than 65 million monthly active users across all its platforms, consuming a content base of over 3.5 million premium digital units across audio and video.

The current round of funding, will expand Hungama's content library and further its investment in world class technology on its mobile app platforms, Hungama Music for music and Hungama Play for premium video including movies, television and original series. Hungama will soon add more than 1500 hours of television content, along with original content to its current Hungama Play offering of over 8,000 movies in English and 12 Indian languages

Neeraj Roy

Speaking of the funding round, Neeraj Roy, Founder and CEO, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, said, “India is adding eight million new consumers to the internet each month, with 90 per cent of digital consumption being driven by mobile. Young Indians love their music and movies and the mobile will be the most used screen for this generation. Content will drive the next phase of Digital India and we are delighted to partner with Xiaomi as we prepare to bring premium and original digital entertainment to a 100 million Indians before the end of this year.”

Hugo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi, said, “We think of smart phones as a platform for us to deliver internet services, and this includes content. We are investing in Hungama not only to start integrating content into our smart phones, but also to grow together with them and deepen our understanding of the content sector in India. We have carefully selected Hungama because of what they are doing in terms of aggregating large amounts of content and delivering an amazing user experience.”

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Chairman, Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, said, “I have been invested into Hungama for several years and participated in this new capital raise as I believe they have built a unique leadership position with the most compelling music and movie OTT service for South Asians globally that is ripe for growth as India will embrace broadband and 4G. We welcome Xiaomi as one of our partners.”

Vishal Gupta, Managing Director, Bessemer Venture Partners, said, “We are excited about the leadership position that Hungama has built as being the one-stop OTT platform across music, videos and movies. We are delighted to have Xiaomi as our partners and will accelerate our growth and leadership.”

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