Funds will be used to strengthen talent development
pipeline, and invested into tech infrastructure development
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HONG KONG, CHINA -�Media OutReach�-�6 December
2018 -�M17 Entertainment,
Asia's leading social entertainment company, announced today that it has successfully raised USD 25 million in a funding round led
by Terry Tsang, CEO of Hong Kong's leading
mobile game developer - Madhead. Mr. Tsang is joined in the round by Pavilion Capital,
Stonebridge Ventures, alongside existing investors. M17 Entertainment is
expected to achieve USD 180 million in annual revenues this year, up
significantly from previously announced revenue figures, demonstrating strong
growth trajectory.
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Coupled with robust,
sustained performance in the highly promising Japanese live entertainment
market, the round witnessed burgeoning interest and M17 Entertainment expects
additional funding in the upcoming two months, which would further bolster its
position to take additional market share in the live entertainment industry of
Developed Asia.
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With new funding from its
current round, M17 Entertainment is set to invest in research and development
to boost its technical capabilities, firmly establish a well-rounded system to
develop talent and actively diversify content and services to elevate user
experience.
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Propelling quality content and diverse talent to a global
stage
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Joseph Phua, co-founder and
CEO of M17 Entertainment, said: "Since M17 Entertainment's establishment,
we have been committed in our mission
to enable connections through a widely accessible live entertainment stage,
made possible by our various platforms. We hope to empower individuals to
realise their dreams of stardom; to award them with a stage to showcase their
talents to a global audience. 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."
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As this round of fundraising
concludes, M17 Entertainment continues to diversify its content and operations
in multiple markets to benefit its streamers and users in the long run.
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The funding will be used to
drive the following key areas:
- Upgrade technical
infrastructure and introduce innovative features to create a truly intuitive product with a higher
level of interactivity between streamers and users - Break the mould of traditional live streaming companies by
equipping streamers with relevant resources, including expert advisors,
training curriculum and valuable opportunities for exposure in different areas
of showbiz - Implement and sustain a well-rounded and systematic
process to discover, train and promote streamers - Lead the social entertainment space with continuous
advancements, heralding a new era of premium live content and interactivity
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Investing in talent to maximise growth potential
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Terry Tsang, CEO of Madhead,
said, "I am optimistic about the growth potential of M17 Entertainment,
and have great faith in Joseph's passion and vision. I am confident that Joseph
will lead the highly capable M17 team in its quest to transform the future of
social entertainment.".
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Established in May 2017 with a
vision to usher in a new age of live streaming, M17 Entertainment first kicked
off by integrating innovative elements and generating new content. The new
funds will accelerate its plans to improve their live streaming capabilities.
M17 Entertainment currently has offices in Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan,
South Korea, the U.S., and Malaysia, and employs close to 600 people worldwide.
With plans to deepen its roots in Asia and having recently entered the U.S.
market, M17 Entertainment seeks to pave the way for the next generation of
social entertainment globally.
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?About M17 Entertainment
Limited?
M17 Entertainment Limited,
operator of the largest live streaming platform in Developed Asia, has a
mission to empower artists by disrupting the traditional artist-agency model
through its systematic process to discover, train and promote artists. M17 Entertainment
is a tech-enabled and data-driven entertainment company led by veteran media
and entertainment executives with experience managing top artists and producing
high quality music and video content in Asia, as well as operating social and
interactive entertainment platforms globally. The company's interactive
entertainment platform includes 17 Media, the largest live streaming platform
by revenue in Developed Asia. M17 Entertainment also operates dating
applications Paktor, which was launched in Singapore in 2013, and Goodnight.
For more information regarding M17 Entertainment, please
visit http://m17.asia/.