STARZ Play Arabia Secures New Investments

DUBAI: STARZ Play, which is available across the MENA region, has scored a new multi-million-dollar funding investment.

The investment is led by existing investors, including SEQ Capital Partners and new investors such as Delta Partners Capital. The funding will be used to finance STARZ Play’s continued expansion of its services and partnerships, and will allow further content acquisition.

Maaz Sheikh, CEO of STARZ Play, commented: “Strategic partnerships with leading studios, major telecom groups and device manufacturers have proven our long-term business model. We now enjoy a six-figure subscriber base of customers in MENA who enjoy the affordable, on-demand experience our service provides. We’ve also made subscribing to STARZ Play easier and even better value than ever by introducing mobile phone bills as a payment option and creating attractive offers through telecom service providers.

“This funding demonstrates the continued confidence our current investors have in STARZ Play. We’ve raised the bar for subscription video on demand services in this region and these new funds will enable us to further enhance our content and technology offering,” Maaz continued.

Kaj-Erik Relander, partner at SEQ, said: “The SVOD industry is evolving rapidly and companies are competing aggressively to meet their customers’ requirements and demands. STARZ Play has done an extremely impressive job of providing a convenient viewing experience for SVOD users in the MENA region. We are proud to be an investor in such an ambitious and fast growing company and we intend to equip this business to maintain its leading industry position.”

Kai-Uwe Ricke, the chairman of Delta Partners Group, said: “STARZ Play has demonstrated its unique capability to adapt the traditional SVOD business model to the specifics of emerging markets. We are very excited to become part of STARZ Play’s journey and we intend to leverage the expertise and network of Delta Partners Group to help the management in forging deeper and more successful win-win partnerships with telecom operators in MENA and beyond.”

John Penney, chairman of the board of STARZ Play Arabia and chief strategy officer of Starz, added: “Starz has been very pleased with the progress shown by STARZ Play and its investment in the venture. Maaz and his team have established a great foundation for the business to grow throughout the region. We are delighted to see additional investment come in from smart partners and view this as an endorsement of the vision we had when establishing the business, and the positive outlook we see going forward for the MENA marketplace.”