iROKO Partners closes on USD2m funding

BUSINESS

Nigerian movie distributor iROKO Partners has closed on a final round of funding, totaling USDD2 million, from Swedish-based Kinnevik, an early investor in Groupon.

The additional investment will be used to grow iROKO Partners’ operations in New York, London and Lagos, as well as for purchasing more content for its platforms iROKOtv (movies) and iROKING (music).  

The deal forms part of iROKO Partners’ second round of investment with US-based hedge fund, Tiger Global, in April 2012.

Jason Njoku, Founder & CEO of iROKO Partners, says: “We were already on our way towards becoming a world class company, but this investment is an awesome catalyst for us to increase our offering and solidify our market leadership.”

Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria and with offices in London and New York and a staff of almost 100, iROKO Partners was set up in December 2010 to bring Nigerian movies (Nollywood) and music to the African Diaspora. Its platform for showing Nollywood movies on demand, iROKOtv, has over 5600,000 registered users and this month moved to subscription-based model. Subscribers can now pay USD5 per month to watch their choice of new Nollywood releases.

Mia Brunell Livfors, President and CEO of Investment AB Kinnevik, said: “We are impressed by the growth and entrepreneurship of iROKO Partners. In two years it has become one of Africa’s top tech companies and a global leader in the distribution of Nigerian movies and music, one of the largest and fastest content categories in the world. The predicted growth for the sector is exciting and iROKO is delivering this content to a global audience and building an online entertainment hub.”