Liberty Global and Zain invest in Iflix

Iflix Arabia’s launch event

A group of new investors including cable giant Liberty Global and Middle East telco Zain have invested US$90 million in Asian subscription video-on-demand service Iflix.

Iflix also secured additional capital from existing investors, which include Sky, Catcha Group and EMC.

Iflix is launching a version its service in the Middle East and North Africa in a joint-venture partnership with Kuwait-based mobile  operator Zain.

Iflix Arabia will be headquartered in Dubai and will offers services wherever Zain is present in the region, including Kuwait, Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Sudan, with the potential to further extend into additional regional markets.

The service is scheduled to launch in the second quarter of this year, giving access to its content to users in the region and specifically to Zain’s mobile user base.

In addition to expanding from its Asian base to the Middle East and Africa, Zain is also looking at expanding into Latin America, a market in which Liberty Global is active through its LiLAC unit, comprising Caribbean operator Cable & Wireless Communications and Chilean operator VTR.

“We are incredibly excited with the demand we are seeing for iflix in the Middle East and Africa, as well as other new markets in Asia and worldwide. The new funds will enable us to seize this immense opportunity and continue to empower local consumers and provide them with the best content and services available and the freedom to enjoy that offering whenever and wherever they want, wherever they are in the world,” said iflix co-founder and group CEO Mark Britt.

“Investing in an innovative emerging business like iflix enables us to gain an even greater insight into subscription video-on-demand services as we continue to develop our own evolving video entertainment propositions for millions of our customers throughout Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Liberty Global chief programming officer Bruce Mann.