On-demand video streaming platform under Indonesia’s gojek, GoPlay, has raised an undisclosed amount of capital in an independent funding round led by ZWC Partners and Golden Gate Ventures.
Other investors included Openspace Ventures, Ideosource Entertainment, and Redbadge Pacific.
The streaming service plans to use the cash to enhance its technology to help Indonesian filmmakers introduce and distribute their work to a larger audience, positioning itself as a medium of high quality locally produced movies and series.
Although American global streaming platforms have snowballed, the space has become more competitive in the past with addition from several new rivals.
However, taking the example of the liquidation streaming service Hooq, as well as Malaysia’s iflix, video streaming has always struggled to make an impact in local markets.
Edy Sulistyo, CEO of GoPlay, on the contrary, believes that Gojek massive regional footprint will give it an added advantage compared to the rest to come up with great local content to support and grow Indonesia’s creative industry.
Also Read: gojek names Facebook, PayPal as new investors in latest funding round
“GoPlay was launched to meet the fast-growing needs of Indonesia’s entertainment industry. Indonesia’s local pool of content creators needs more avenues to showcase their talent, while our growing pool of mobile consumers wants access to more local content at their fingertips,” he commented.
“By combining the resources and expertise of these partners with Gojek’s footprint in Indonesia, we are well-positioned to support and grow Indonesia’s creative industry, while continuing to reach more consumers with quality local content.”
Regionally speaking, even as Netflix and Amazon continue to dominate Hollywood content, there is still a lot of potentials when it comes to local content.
In a recent article by Kr-Asia, Iflix CEO Cam Walker said that because the target audience for local content providers is Indonesia’s middle-to-low income group, there is still a huge possibility of growth.
This class makes up a significant percentage of the country and increasingly turns towards the television to watch local dramas.
“Looking at the current growth and demand for content streaming, we believe that the Indonesian content market has the potential to reach US$1 billion within the next three years,” said Andi Boediman, CEO of Ideosource Entertainment.
“Hence, GoPlay plays a strategic role within the gojek ecosystem, in acquiring new users, increasing user engagement and retaining existing users through its quality on-demand content,” he added.
This news follows gojek’s recent funding news from high-profile technology firms including Google, Tencent and PayPal.
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Image Credit: Gojek
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