Emtek’s Vidio a step closer to unicorn status after $150m fundraise

Affinity Equity Partners, the Asian private equity powerhouse, has made a US$150 million investment into Vidio, an Indonesian over-the-top (OTT) video platform backed by Indonesian conglomerate Emtek Group. The deal boosts Vidio’s post-money valuation to US$900 million, getting it closer to achieving unicorn status.

Vidio app / Photo credit: Vidio

Founded in 2014, Vidio offers more than 1 million on-demand videos, including exclusive sports and entertainment content. As of last month, it had an average of 62 million monthly active users on average and 2 million paid subscribers.

The platform is owned by PT Surya Citra Media, a unit of Emtek, which inked a strategic partnership with Grab in July. Emtek’s managing director Sutanto Hartono is also the CEO of Vidio’s parent firm. Last month, Vidio hired ex-Lazada chief marketing officer Monika Rudijono as managing director.

Affinity will join the video platform’s board after the investment.

This is the first time that Vidio has received external funding. The OTT platform plans to invest the funds in content production and licensing, and also to build livestreaming and gamification features.

The investment also marks Affinity’s second tech investment in Southeast Asia, after the private equity firm poured US$200 million into M-Daq, a Singapore-based fintech company backed by Alibaba’s Ant Group.