Thursday, January 9, 2020

Quibi Finds $400M, Details Short Form Mobile Video Plans

Los Angeles-based Quibi, the previously stealth-mode mobile video startup founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, said at CES that it has raised $400M in a funding round. The company--which unveiled a website and announced its plans to roll out 175 short form video series specificaly created for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices--was previously known as NewTV. Quibi renamed itself in October of 2018, but has been mum about its plans in the content world. Katzenberg brought on Whitman--the former CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and President and CEO of eBay--back in January of 2018. The new funding comes on top of an earlier $1 billion raised by Quibi from a number of movie studios. Investors in Quibi include Alibaba Group, Disney, Sony and Warner Bros, Viacom, MGM, eOne, Liberty Global, BBC Studios, and others.