iflix to 'aggressively pursue' growth strategies with new round of funding

Iflix has secured a new round of funding to "aggressively pursue" growth strategies and further increase the active userbase which, according to the company, surpassed 17 million users this May, up from nine million six months earlier. While the final size of the round has not been disclosed, iflix said the total is well in excess of US$50 million.

In a statement to A+M, iflix's spokesperson said: "The funds raised are for operations and marketing is part of those operations. We will continue with our existing strategies which have proven to be successful in terms of attaining user growth."

The round was cornerstoned by global asset manager Fidelity International and includes some of the renowned media companies in the region including Indonesia’s MNC, Japan’s Yoshimoto Kogyo and South Korea’s JTBC. According to the company, this complmenets the continued investment by founder Catcha Group and strategic shareholders Hearst, Sky and EMC, each of whom also participated in the round.

Iflix co-founder and chairman Patrick Grove said the investments are a “clear affirmation” of its business model and growth prospects, and strengthens iflix’s 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,” Grove added. The company previously had a funding round in February last year, preceded by three separate funding rounds in 2017, one in 2016 and one in 2015.

Earlier this month, iflix's brand solutions business, iflix Advertising, launched a suite of advanced targeting solutions to deliver more effective brand messages to highly-engaged audiences. Brands can now employ iflix’s proprietary data to target viewers based on contextual insights, going beyond pure demographic and device ID targeting.

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