Alibaba Invests USD 50M in Entertainment App Maker Peel
After raising USD 25 billion in the biggest IPO in US history, now Chinese e-commerce company, Alibaba has invested USD 50 million in Peel, that turns Android, iOS smartphones and tablets into remote controls with an app that works on TVs, PCs, air-conditioners and other smart appliances. Last year, Alibaba had invested USD 5 million in this company.
Entertainment App maker Peel was co-founded in 2010 by Thiru Arunachalam and Bala Krishnan, and claims to have more than 90 million users in 200 countries. Till date, including this round, the company has secured a total funding of USD 86.7 million in 4 rounds from 5 investors. Managing director of Alibaba’s investment arm, Hongping Zhang has also joined Peel’s board of directors.
As per Re/Code reports, Peel will generate about USD 8 million in revenue this year and projects USD 20 million in revenue for 2015.
See Also: Alibaba invests HKD 2.8 Bn in Haier to create a joint logistics venture
To make expansion into other industries like media, messaging and gaming, Alibaba recently invested in ride-sharing service Lyft, mobile gaming company Kabam and messaging app Tango.
Till date, Alibaba has invested in 19 companies including this latest one. It is operating online marketplaces for both international and domestic China trade along with an online payment system, AliPay.
At present, Alibaba Group has 12 major businesses and affiliated entities, including alibaba.com, Taobao.com, Tmall, Alipay, koubei.com, Aliyun, etao.com, net.cn, Juhuasuan.com, CNZZ, and Onetouch. It was officially established by its 18 founders in 1999.
Category : Business Investments Startups
