KKR-backed Emerald Media invests $50 mn in YuppTV

Emerald Media, a Pan-Asian platform established by leading global investment firm KKR for investing in the media and entertainment sector, has announced that it has acquired a significant minority stake in YuppTV for $50 million. YuppTV is one of the world’s leading over-the-top (OTT) video platforms for South Asian content offering live TV, catch-up TV and movies on-demand in 14 languages across the globe. The growth capital will enable YuppTV to further its global footprint, expand its content library through original productions and acquisitions, and rapidly grow its paid subscriber base.

Uday Reddy, Promoter and CEO YuppTV, said, “We couldn’t ask for a stronger partner than Emerald Media. YuppTV is a content distribution platform with a strong consumer connection, and Emerald Media has global media relationships.  We hope to leverage their relationships and existing assets Endemol, OML, Fluence and Graphic India to create original programming and make this platform a next generation distribution and content powerhouse.”

Rajesh Kamat, Managing Director of Emerald Media, added here, “Emerald Media believes in driving change and value-creation by providing a distinctive combination of capital, domain knowledge and management bandwidth.The world is moving from traditional consumption to multi-screen delivery mediums. YuppTV provides a unique combination of technology, strong content relationships and revenues of scale and will be an anchor to our vision of building a new age media company.”

Paul Aiello, Managing Director of Emerald Media, said, “Uday and his team have created an exceptional online video platform with a loyal subscriber base that realises the huge potential of the global Indian diaspora. Our investment and relationship will enable YuppTV to further their strong leadership position in the rapidly growing OTT space.”

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, YuppTV is a leading Internet Pay TV platform for South Asians, reaching more than 400 million households across the world. In September 2015, YuppTV had raised its Series A round of funding from Poarch Creek Indian Tribe of Alabama.

YuppTV has gained considerable popularity in India, having recently launched in the market. With an initial focus on South India, the company has gradually expanded to the rest of the country. It has also recently implemented advanced analytics-based real-time recommendations on Live TV to make content more discoverable.