UUSee Announces US $23.5 Million Financing
BEIJING, March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- UUSee, the leading Internet television and interactive video operator in China, announced today that it has raised US $23.5 million in new financing. Draper Fisher Jurvetson Growth Fund ("DFJ Growth Fund") and Highland Capital Partners led the round, with Steamboat Ventures joining as a new investor and additional participation from existing investors Sequoia Capital China and SIG. In conjunction with the financing, Barry Schuler of DFJ Growth Fund and Dan Nova of Highland Capital have joined UUSee's Board of Directors.
"This financing represents a further endorsement in our progress to date and the very large market opportunity that has emerged for broadband media in China," stated Zhu Li, CEO and co-founder of UUSee. "DFJ Growth Fund, Highland Capital and Steamboat Ventures are top-tier firms that have relevant expertise, relationships and capital to help us achieve further growth and expand our leadership in the market."
Through its exclusive partnerships with leading Chinese content providers and distributors such as CCTV (China's largest TV broadcaster), Beijing TV and CSAT (China's leading satellite operator), UUSee provides its audience with a vast library of licensed content including popular television programming, news programs, drama series, sports and movies. The company has also partnered with SMG to deliver live Internet broadcasts of world-class premium sports events. UUSee broadcasts nearly 60 channels of live TV programming and 350 channels of commercial video content, along with video-on-demand features, downloading services to mobile devices, and specialized services for Internet cafe users. In addition, approximately 25 regional broadband portals from China Telecom (CT) and China NetCom (CNC) have partnered with UUSee to offer this broadband video programming to their users.
"The company and management team have made significant progress to date securing key partnerships and developing a unique platform that already serves millions of online viewers," stated Dan Nova, Managing General Partner with Highland. "With its proprietary technologies, including a robust peer-to-peer streaming network, UUSee is making online video distribution of licensed content a reality."
UUSee is working with television programmers and broadcasters to deliver their content with new interactive features, including voting, text-messaging and rich media advertising. Brands can advertise on UUSee in multiple ways, using pre- and post-roll ads, banners and text ads, plus more innovative ad units such as picture-in-picture and interactive Flash.
"UUSee is China's leading Internet TV operator and peer-to-peer video network, and we're thrilled to be partners with them," added Barry Schuler, Managing Director of DFJ Growth Fund and former Chairman and CEO of America Online (AOL). "UUSee has developed a large and loyal audience that continues to grow very rapidly. We look forward to helping them become China's most successful broadband media company by forging partnerships with the world's top studios, programmers and advertisers who want to reach this enormous audience."
"We are enthusiastic about the opportunity to invest in China's premier Internet TV and interactive broadcasting operator," said John R. Ball, Founder and Managing Director of Steamboat Ventures. "UUSee is at the forefront of delivering licensed media and entertainment content over the Internet, and we look forward to working closely with the company and its partners."
China Renaissance Partners acted as the exclusive financial advisor to UUSee on this transaction.
ABOUT UUSEE
Based in Beijing, UUSee is the leading Internet television and interactive video operator in China. Through its partnerships with leadingcontent providers and distributors such as CCTV (China's largest TV broadcaster), Beijing TV, SMG, and CSAT (China's leading satellite operator), UUSee provides its audience with a vast library of licensed content including popular television programming, news programs, drama series, sports events and movies. UUSee broadcasts nearly 60 channels of live TV programming and 350 channels of commercial video content, along with video-on-demand features, downloading services to mobile devices, and specialized services for Internet cafe users. More information can be found at www.uusee.com.
About Sequoia Capital
Sequoia Capital provides venture capital funding to founders of startups who want to turn business ideas into companies. As the "Entrepreneurs Behind the Entrepreneurs", Sequoia Capital's Partners have worked with innovators such as Steve Jobs of Apple Computer, Larry Ellison of Oracle, Bob Swanson of Linear Technology, Sandy Lerner and Len Bozack of Cisco Systems, Dan Warmenhoven of Network Appliance, Jerry Yang and David Filo of Yahoo!, Jen-Hsun Huang of nVIDIA, Michael Marks of Flextronics, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen of YouTube and Dominic Orr and Keerti Melkote of Aruba Wireless Networks. To learn more about Sequoia Capital visit www.sequoiacap.com.
Contact:
Fan Zhang
SEQUOIA CAPITAL
zhang@sequoiacap.com
