Roku gains $45M investent from BSkyB, News Corp, others
updated 04:09 pm EDT, Thu July 26, 2012
Funds earmarked for increased production, Roku marketing
Roku has secured funding from BSkyB and News Corp. A third partner that declined to be named, along with previous investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners, join the funding round and bring the strategic investment total to $45 million. Roku has already earmarked most of the new capital for specific purposes, with generous portions going toward advertising, expanding into new international markets, and increasing manufacturing for existing product lines.
Games, pay-per-view video and content packages will continue to be developed with the new funds, which will also help increase advertising for the upcoming Roku Streaming Stick slated for this fall. The Streaming Stick fits a set-top box into an HDMI dongle for TVs using MHL, letting users have full access to Roku's Internet channels over Wi-Fi.
The investment from BSkyB, according to quarterly reports, is valued at $10 million. The investment gives BSkyB the option to distribute self-branded versions of the Roku hardware, which is expected to help its online efforts such as Sky Go and the Now TV platform.
Aside from the monetary investments, News Corp Chief Digital Officer Jon Miller will join Roku's board of directors. [via The Verge]
