Photo credit: Terence Lee.
Hooq, a Netflix competitor in Asia, raised US$25 million from its existing investors Singtel, Sony Pictures, and Warner, Techcrunch reports.
The streaming service – majority-owned by Singapore’s top telco – first launched in India, Thailand, and the Philippines in early 2015, later also taking on Indonesia and Singapore.
At that time, there was little competition in those markets. That quickly changed when Malaysia’s iFlix launched across Southeast Asia soon after, and Netflix took its service global in one fell swoop in early 2016.
Hooq has been trying to build its profile as the streamer that understands Asian markets best and offers localized features, such as subtitles and offline viewing for up to five titles. Competitor iFlix, however, has a similar positioning.
According to TechCrunch, this round takes Hooq’s total amount of funding to US$95 million. iFlix, having raised US$45 million in March 2016, stands at a total of US$75 million.
Hooq CEO Peter Bithos told TechCrunch that the company is preparing to welcome outside investors for the first time and is considering seeking further funding by the end of this year.
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