Wattpad Raises $51M in Funding

Wattpad, a Toronto, Canada-based global multiplatform entertainment company for original stories, raised USD $51m (CAD $61.25m) in funding.

Backers included Tencent Holdings Limited, BDC, Globe Telecom’s Kickstart Ventures, Peterson Group, and existing investor Raine.

The company intends to use the new funds for the continued investment in machine learning and interactive storytelling, expanding its global entertainment presence in TV, film, digital media, and publishing and growth of the team across all departments.

Led by Allen Lau, CEO and co-founder, Wattpad is a global multiplatform entertainment company that combines community and technology to enable the creation and distribution of content across a variety of formats. The company’s offerings include:

  • Its flagship app, Wattpad, has a community of more than 65 million people who spend over 15 billion minutes a month engaged in original stories.
  • Tap by Wattpad, the company’s second storytelling product, offers short, chat-based stories in over a dozen languages.
  • Wattpad Studios co-produces stories for film, television, digital and print, together with industry partners.
  • Wattpad Brand Solutions offers a full suite of advertising products to help brands build deep engagement with Millennial and Gen Z consumers.

Wattpad has major TV, film and digital video partnerships with Universal Cable Productions (UCP), a division of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, eOne, CW Seed and others. It also works with publishing houses such as HarperCollins, Hachette Audio and Hachette Romans.

To date, the company has raised USD $117.8m from international investors in Asia, the US, and Canada. Previous investors include OMERS Ventures, August Capital, Union Square Ventures, Golden Venture Partners, Khosla Ventures, AME Cloud Ventures, Northleaf Venture Catalyst Fund and Version One Ventures.

FinSMEs

17/01/2018

 

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