Viki enters China by partnering with Renren, one of the country’s top social networks
Viki, a video site that translate content into 150 languages, has announced last week a deal with Renren, known as China’s Facebook, to release content on both renren.com and 56.com.
In 56.com, a video sharing site owned by Renren, users will see a dedicated section for Viki content starting in August. It will be called VikiZone.
The ‘zone’ will broadcast hundreds of hours of Cartoon Network content, TNT dramas from the United States, and other global TV programs. The latest content will be made available a day after airing in the US.
Korean and Japanese videos will also be featured. The Singapore startup, which also has an office in San Francisco, has collaborated with Korean independent record label SM Entertainment to bring K-pop music videos and behind-the-scenes interviews to China. Partnering with Japanese licensors, Viki will also stream 50 classic Japanese titles to Renren and 56.com.
Since securing around US$20M in Series B funding and US$4.3M in Series A funding from prominent Silicon Valley VC firms like Greylock Partners and Andreesen Horowitz, Viki has embarked on a plan to secure more content and expand to more markets.
Viki’s partnership with Renren could provide a significant boost to the startup’s foray into China. Renren, being one of the most prominent social networks in the country, has a pre-IPO userbase of 31 million active monthly users (the figure, however, is mired with controversy).
The startup’s claim to fame is that the translations on the site are provided by an active community, sort of like a Wikipedia for video entertainment. In October 2011, it received about 8.5 million unique visitors and 36 million visits in one month — four times the traffic from the previous year.
Some of its other investors include: Neoteny Labs from Singapore, BBC Worldwide, SK Planet, and Charles River Ventures.
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