MUBI Scores Backing from Nicolas Winding Refn, India’s Times Bridge

The streaming service MUBI has received investments from filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, as well as India’s Times Bridge.

India represents the third-largest country in terms of traffic and registered users on MUBI—following the U.S. and U.K. In the Indian market, MUBI will seek out relationships with film festivals, local producers and emerging talent. As part of the investment, the firm will provide the streaming service with ongoing counsel on brand positioning, engagement potential, monetization and public policy, as well as facilitate local partnerships, talent outreach and relationships with Indian influencers. MUBI will also gain access to The Times Group’s wider set of advertising inventory.

Alongside Times Bridge and Winding Refn, China’s Huanxi Media also recently invested in MUBI.

MUBI’s founder and CEO, Efe Cakarel, said: “I am thrilled to be partnering with Rishi Jaitly and his team at Times Bridge. We are very ambitious with our prospects in India, and they have shown a highly sophisticated understanding of our business and our goals in the region. India is a unique opportunity for us to engage with a passionate community with deep cultural ties to film. Our platform and programming, combined with Times Bridge’s local knowledge and audience, will quickly position MUBI as a meaningful OTT service catering to India’s growing base of Internet users.”

Rishi Jaitly, CEO of Times Bridge, added: “At Times Bridge, our mission is to bring the world’s best ideas to India and share India’s best insights with the world. MUBI is an original idea with a decade’s worth of proven appeal amongst fans of independent cinema worldwide. Film is inextricably linked to India’s heritage and, in a country with rapidly-changing tastes, we are confident that the MUBI platform will delight a meaningful audience seeking high-quality, curated, global cinema.”