Sovereign Wealth Funds Invest in the Netflix of Russia
Posted on 05/26/2021
A consortium of investors, including the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia’s sovereign wealth fund), VTB Capital, Invest AG, Millhouse, sovereign funds of the Middle East such as Mubadala Investment Company, Baring Vostok and Flashpoint announced the completion of a funding round totaling US$ 250 million in IVI, Russia’s leading online video streaming service. IVI currently has the largest catalog of video content (films, TV series, etc.) in Russia and accounts for more than 30% of the Russian online video streaming market. The investment by RDIF and partners is aimed at further expanding the content offer and producing IVI’s own content as well as developing the Company’s advanced technology platform and marketing.
In September 2019, IVI became an RDIF portfolio company. The previous funding round was completed by a consortium of investors, including RDIF, the Russia-China Investment Fund (RCIF, established by RDIF and China Investment Corporation), Mubadala Investment Company, Baring Vostok Private Equity Fund IV, Flashpoint VC, RTP Global, and Winter Capital.
Headed by Oleg Tumanov, IVI is a streaming service in Russia accounting for more than 30% of the online video streaming market (according to TMT Consulting data for 2020). The service audience exceeds 50 million unique users monthly. IVI presents the largest professional catalog of films, TV series and animation. In total, IVI’s catalog contains more than 100,000 content items from all 6 Hollywood major studios, as well as more than 400 Russian and international filmmakers.