M17 entertainment will use the funds to strengthen its presence in Hong Kong, Indonesia and Japan

M17 Entertainment, a merged company between Singapore-based dating platform Paktor and Taiwanese video streaming platform 17 Media, has raised US$40 million in a Series A round.

The round was led by Japanese venture firm, Infinity Venture Partners (IVP). Other investors include Vertex Asia Fund, Yahoo Japan, Majuven, Golden Summit Capital and Korean venture firm, KTB Ventures.

M17 Entertainment will channel part of the funding into expanding its presence in Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. It has, however, completely ruled out China.

The company will also send its teams for professional training and scout for qualified content creators – such as live streamers, music producers, and celebrities.

In addition, M17 will get to work on producing more original content such as music, commentary, variety shows as well as reality TV programmes. On that front, M17 has partnered with Taiwan-based music streaming service KKBOX to boost its content creation efforts.

“Working together with Asia’s largest music platform KKBOX, not only are we bringing music and instant messaging together, we hope to create more chances of exposure for passionate music makers,” said M17 Entertainment co-founder and CEO, Joseph Phua, in an official press release.

Also Read: Paktor appoints Shang-Hsiu Koo as new CFO, aims to boost social dating in Southeast Asia

“KKFARM and KKTV from KKBOX Group will work with M17 Entertainment to invest in original content creators. The content will be broadcasted on KKBOX’s media channels. We will also assist in music production, lending more exposure to music talents as well as giving them a chance to fulfill their aspirations as a singer,” added KKBOX’s founder, Chris Lin.

Paktor merged with 17 Media in April this year, four months after it acquired a big stake in the company. M17’s goal is to become an interactive multimedia platform.

Currently, it has offices in Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Indonesia with a total staff count of 300.

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Image Credit: M17 Entertainment

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