21st Century Fox to invest $100m in Caffeine startup

Twenty First Century Fox announced plans on Wednesday to lead a $100 million round of funding for startup Caffeine.

Fox alone is investing $100 million into the newly formed venture, which hopes to produce exclusive esports, video game, sports, and live entertainment.

“The combination of the Caffeine platform with a content studio that benefits from Fox Sports’ expertise in live events and programming will help position Caffeine to deliver compelling experiences in esports, video gaming and entertainment,” said Lachlan Murdoch, 21st Century Fox chairman, in a statement.

“We are excited to partner with Caffeine and build something special for fans in the growing live social streaming esports and gaming space,” he added.

Fox’s stakes in Caffeine will be part of the “new Fox,” the company following the completion of the $71.3 billion sales of Fox to Disney (NYSE: DIS).

Ben Keighran, the CEO of the streaming startup said: “We want to bring the world together around friends and live broadcasts.”

“It’s an ambitious goal, but one we believe is attainable with the support of our amazing new partners, our awesome and ever-growing community, and the content that together, we can bring onto the platform.”

The social live streaming startup was founded in 2016 by Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts.

Caffeine already raised $46 million of funding over two different rounds that were led by Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners.

The startup has also revealed a content agreement with Live Nation in order to bring live music concerts to the streaming platform in the fourth quarter.

Shares in 21st Century Fox (NASDAQ: FOXA) are trading at 45,33 (1442GMT).

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Safiya Bashir
Safiya focuses on business and political stories for UK Investor Magazine. Her interests include international development, travel and politics.