The future of television is mobile
Afrostream now brings together the best of the mobile Internet and the best of African content
Afrostream’s unlimited SVOD streaming service is already available on all connected screens in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire
Orange Digital Ventures announces its participation in the funding of Afrostream, a subscription video on demand service (SVOD) of African, African-American and African-Caribbean films and television series, alongside TheFamily, Cross Culture Ventures I L.P. and ACE & Company. Through its corporate fund, Orange will enable Afrostream to accelerate the development of its original and innovative service in Europe, Africa, the Caribbean and South America.
Afrostream’s unlimited SVOD streaming service is already available on all connected screens in France, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire (www.afrostream.tv). It features programming for the entire family and includes cartoons, concerts and documentaries, in addition to films and TV series.
Taking advantage of its presence in Africa as well as in European countries with large African diaspora populations, Orange wishes to collaborate with the start-up to facilitate Afrostream’s development by providing its expertise in networks, distribution and payment.
Afrostream has been supported by Orange Fab France and Y Combinator, a seed accelerator based in Silicon Valley.The investment illustrates Orange’s support to talented entrepreneurs through a combination of measures made available to start-ups, from the acceleration program to early stage financing.
Pierre Louette, Deputy CEO of Orange and President of Orange Digital Ventures, said “This investment is part of ODV’s ambition to finance services that are able to address different geographical areas in which Orange is present.It will enable us to develop the video-on-demand market, particularly in Africa. It will also enable us to enrich the content we already offer to our customers in France, as Afrostream should be launched on Orange TV by next summer.”
Tonjé Bakang, CEO of Afrostream, commented that “The future of television is mobile. With this strategic investment by Orange, Afrostream now brings together the best of the mobile internet and the best of African content. This new alliance will enable us to revolutionize the entertainment industry and to reach all audiences.”
About Orange Digital Ventures
Orange Digital Ventures selects and funds young start-ups in the first stages of their development. With a budget of 20 million euros in its first year, Orange Digital Ventures invests through minority equity positions. The objective is to fund start-ups working on the transformation of the communications and digital sectors of tomorrow through innovative disruptive technologies and new economic models. In particular, Orange Digital Ventures will support start-ups working in the fields of new connectivity, the Cloud and enterprise data, the Internet of Things and FinTech in all regions of the world.
About Orange
Orange is one of the world’s leading telecommunications operators with sales of 39 billion euros in 2014 and has 154,000 employees worldwide at 06/30/15, including 97,000 employees in France. Present in 29 countries, the Group served 248 million customers worldwide as of 06/30/15, including 190 million mobile customers and 16 million broadband internet customers. Under the Orange Business Services brand, Orange is also one of the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multinational companies. In March 2015, the Group presented its new strategic plan “Essentiels2020” which places customers’ needs at the heart of its strategy with the aim of allowing them to benefit fully from the digital universe and the power of its new generation networks.
Orange is listed on NYSE Euronext Paris (ORA) and on the New York Stock Exchange (ORAN).
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