LeTV launched its "Le Superphone" in the U.S. last month, the first smartphone made by the company for U.S. clients. (Photo : www.gizmag.com)
Two of China's billionaires, Alibaba founder and chairman Jack Ma and Wanda Group chairman Wang Jianlin, lead several other investors who raised $128 million series for LeTV Sports, an online video site specializing in live streaming sports events, according to an article published on techinasia.com.
Other companies that participated in the round for the series A funding included Prometheus Capital, Fortune Link, and several other Chinese companies.
Jack Ma and Wang Jianlin invested in the online video site through their private venture capital fund, Yunfeng Capital and Wanda Investment.
The article said that LeTV Sports has now reached a net worth of 2.8 billion yuan ($452 million).
Before becoming an independent company in February last year, LeTV Sports started out as part of LeTV's flagship Hulu-like TV site. The site features 4,000 matches of various sports every year, which include basketball, soccer, golf and tennis. It also owns exclusive rights to broadcast some sports and athletic events.
According to the article, LeTV has branched out and expanded to other products in recent months, which include a smartphone, a sports camera and an electric car soon to be unveiled.
The site continues to be one of China's top video sites for clients who love to watch licensed TV shows and movies, rivalling tech giants like Tencent Video, Youku, and iQiyi and PPS, which are both owned by Baidu.
LeTV also launched a music company in March and has established a film production fund worth $200 million and also bought a production studio to produce more exclusive content worth $260 million.
The article added that the two billionaire executives have been interested in sports even before their investment. Alibaba has announced on May 14 that it is supporting the upcoming Pac-12 collegiate sports conference, a basketball match between two American teams to be hosted by China.
Alibaba also invested a 50-percent stake worth $192 billion in one of China's top national soccer teams last year. The e-commerce giant has also signed deals with major studios and production companies worldwide, showing its great interest to have its own TV and movie content portfolio.
