Taiwanese start-up 17 Media (17 直播), a photo-sharing and live streaming app that has more than 15 million users worldwide, yesterday said it had sold an unspecified controlling stake to Singapore-based dating app operator Paktor Group (拍拖) to expand its presence in Asia.
The investment marked the second cash injection into 17 Media this year, after the firm in May received 150 million yuan (US$21.8 million) from China’s LeTV Sports Culture Develop Venture Capital (樂視體育創投).
“The agreement with Paktor enables 17 Media to gain access to a platform with a large and growing consumer base within the Singapore-based company,” 17 Media founder Jeff Huang (黃立成) said in a joint news statement.
Paktor chief executive officer Joseph Phua (潘杰賢) said the investment represents a milestone for Paktor to tap into the growing social entertainment industry by collaborating with 17 Media’s live streaming service.
The transaction was completed on Nov. 1 and the company received a “substantial cash injection” from Paktor, the Taiwanese firm’s public relationships official Jessie Wu (吳承禧) said by telephone yesterday, declining to disclose the amount.
Under the agreement, Phua has taken on the role of chief executive officer at 17 Media, while Huang remains its chairman, Wu said.
Wu said Paktor is to help 17 Media promote its brand in Paktor’s Southeast Asian markets, such as Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand.
The cash injection will enrich the company’s content production, help seek strategic partnerships and expand the number of engineers in Taiwan, she added.
Huang, best known as the founder of hip-hop groups LA Boyz and Machi, established MachiPoPo Inc (麻吉波波), parent of 17 Media, in June last year with an operational fund of NT$150 million, Ministry of Economic Affairs data showed.
The company’s mobile application allows users to live stream videos and interact with other users. Users can receive as much as US$100 in 17 Media shares if audience numbers reach a certain target while live streaming.
The app received a positive market response when it was launched in June last year.
It was temporarily removed from both iOS and Android app stores in September last year, as many users reportedly streamed inappropriate content to attract viewers.
Shares of contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) came under pressure yesterday after a report that Apple Inc is looking to shift some orders from the Taiwanese company to Intel Corp. TSMC shares fell NT$55, or 2.4 percent, to close at NT$2,235 on the local main board, Taiwan Stock Exchange data showed. Despite the losses, TSMC is expected to continue to benefit from sound fundamentals, as it maintains a lead over its peers in high-end process development, analysts said. “The selling was a knee-jerk reaction to an Intel-Apple report over the weekend,” Mega International Investment Services Corp (兆豐國際投顧) analyst Alex Huang
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is expected to remain Apple Inc’s primary chip manufacturing partner despite reports that Apple could shift some orders to Intel Corp, industry experts said yesterday. The comments came after The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Apple and Intel had reached a preliminary agreement following more than a year of negotiations for Intel to manufacture some chips for Apple devices. Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (台灣經濟研究院) economist Arisa Liu (劉佩真) said TSMC’s advanced packaging technologies, including integrated fan-out and chip-on-wafer-on-substrate, remain critical to the performance of Apple’s A-series and M-series chips. She said Intel and Samsung
POWER BUILDUP: Powered by Nvidia’s B200 Blackwell chips, the data center would support MediaTek’s computing power demand and business growth, the company said Smartphone chip designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) yesterday launched a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center with a maximum capacity of 45 megawatts to meet its rising demand for computing power required to develop new advanced chips for AI applications. The company has completed the first-phase computing power buildup at the data center in Miaoli County’s Tongluo Township (銅鑼), providing 15 megawatts of capacity to support its research and development (R&D) capabilities, despite an industrywide shortage of key components, MediaTek said. Supply constraints have plagued a wide range of key components, including memory chips, solid-state drives, power supply units and central
TRANSITION: With the closure, the company would reorganize its Taiwanese unit to a sales and service-focused model, Bridgestone said Bridgestone Corp yesterday announced it would cease manufacturing operations at its tire plant in Hsinchu County’s Hukou Township (湖口), affecting more than 500 workers. Bridgestone Taiwan Co (台灣普利司通) said in a statement that the decision was based on the Tokyo-based tire maker’s adjustments to its global operational strategy and long-term market development considerations. The Taiwanese unit would be reorganized as part of the closure, effective yesterday, and all related production activities would be concluded, the statement said. Under the plan, Bridgestone would continue to deepen its presence in the Taiwanese market, while transitioning to a sales and service-focused business model, it added. The Hsinchu
RSS