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PR Newswire
02-09-2013, 03:57 PM
Start-up success story not only from Silicon Valley, but also elsewhere e.g. Singapore.
Singapore-based tech company Viki to be acquired for S$255m
SINGAPORE — Singapore-based video-streaming website Viki is set to be acquired by Japanese Internet e-commerce giant Rakuten in a deal estimated to be valued at US$200 million (S$254.8 million), it was reported yesterday (Sept 1).
Viki, a premium on-demand video service described as “Hulu for the rest of the world”, started up about five years ago in Singapore, attracting US$25 million in investments from Silicon Valley power brokers, according to technology blog All Things D.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani confirmed the acquisition, All Things D reported yesterday in an exclusive. Mr Mikitani declined to give a price for the purchase, but sources with knowledge of the situation said the deal is worth US$200 million.
“Our foundation is not only limited to e-commerce, but an intention to strengthen our ecosystem in Japan and worldwide,” he said in an interview. “We have been looking into finding a global solution for video.”
Rakuten has been expanding aggressively over the last two years to compete with Amazon and other e-commerce players, and is currently operating in 13 markets worldwide.
The Japanese company has also invested heavily in social bookmarking phenom Pinterest and purchased the Kobo e-book business for US$315 million.
Viki was founded by Razmig Hovaghmian, Ho Changseong and Moon Jiwon, with funding originally coming from a Singapore start-up, Neoteny, run by Joichi Ito and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. The company is headquartered in Singapore to take advantage of generous Government backing.
It made its service available to the general public in December 2010 and has attracted US$25 million in investments from Silicon Valley power brokers.
Its name is a combination of “video” and “wiki”, drawing on volunteers to manage and curate content similar to Wikipedia. Users provide subtitling for Taiwanese and Filipino TV shows, for instance, on Viki.
Viki currently offers over 2 billion video streams, according to its website. Its content providers include BBC, NBC, KBS and TV Tokyo. it currently has offices in Singapore, San Francisco and Seoul.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/singapor...ired-s255m
Singapore-based tech company Viki to be acquired for S$255m
SINGAPORE — Singapore-based video-streaming website Viki is set to be acquired by Japanese Internet e-commerce giant Rakuten in a deal estimated to be valued at US$200 million (S$254.8 million), it was reported yesterday (Sept 1).
Viki, a premium on-demand video service described as “Hulu for the rest of the world”, started up about five years ago in Singapore, attracting US$25 million in investments from Silicon Valley power brokers, according to technology blog All Things D.
Rakuten CEO Hiroshi Mikitani confirmed the acquisition, All Things D reported yesterday in an exclusive. Mr Mikitani declined to give a price for the purchase, but sources with knowledge of the situation said the deal is worth US$200 million.
“Our foundation is not only limited to e-commerce, but an intention to strengthen our ecosystem in Japan and worldwide,” he said in an interview. “We have been looking into finding a global solution for video.”
Rakuten has been expanding aggressively over the last two years to compete with Amazon and other e-commerce players, and is currently operating in 13 markets worldwide.
The Japanese company has also invested heavily in social bookmarking phenom Pinterest and purchased the Kobo e-book business for US$315 million.
Viki was founded by Razmig Hovaghmian, Ho Changseong and Moon Jiwon, with funding originally coming from a Singapore start-up, Neoteny, run by Joichi Ito and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. The company is headquartered in Singapore to take advantage of generous Government backing.
It made its service available to the general public in December 2010 and has attracted US$25 million in investments from Silicon Valley power brokers.
Its name is a combination of “video” and “wiki”, drawing on volunteers to manage and curate content similar to Wikipedia. Users provide subtitling for Taiwanese and Filipino TV shows, for instance, on Viki.
Viki currently offers over 2 billion video streams, according to its website. Its content providers include BBC, NBC, KBS and TV Tokyo. it currently has offices in Singapore, San Francisco and Seoul.
...
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/singapor...ired-s255m
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