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Dating app Paktor<\/a>, often dubbed \u2018The Tinder of Southeast Asia,\u2019 just sealed up its move into live-streaming and media content after it announced a merger deal with Taiwanese startup 17 Media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Under the deal, a new company called\u00a0M17 Entertainment has been created with shares from both Paktor and 17 Media, company representatives confirmed. They didn\u2019t, however, reveal a valuation for the transaction, although M17 claims to be Asia\u2019s \u201clargest social entertainment company.\u201d<\/p>\n The deal makes plenty of sense in many ways. Paktor CEO Joseph Pua spoke of his desire to expand into social entertainment when his company raised its most recent $32.5 million funding round<\/a> last October. In addition, Paktor, which is best known for a Tinder-like dating app in Southeast Asia, made a major investment<\/a> in 17 Media last December, with Pua relocating to Taiwan to become its CEO. Following the merger, he has become M17 Entertainment\u2019s Group CEO.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a corporate move that allows for aligned interest among all shareholders\u00a0and makes [the] structure clearer to investors,\u201d\u00a0Pua told TechCrunch in an interview. \u201cThat\u2019s\u00a0something that had been brought up when [we were] fundraising.\u201d<\/p>\n On the strategic side, it brings some clarity to Paktor\u2019s previous intention to move into \u201csocial entertainment,\u201d a fairly\u00a0nebulous term that encompasses any kind of entertainment on a smartphone. Something that, at least, goes beyond dating.<\/p>\n Paktor currently offers four dating apps \u2014 core service\u00a0Paktor and acquired apps Down<\/a>, Kickoff and Goodnight \u2014 while 17 Media\u2019s runs its 17 live-streaming app, photo social network Swag and video group chat service Lit. The new entity will retain all, and expand many, of those services, which Pua told TechCrunch are collectively on course to gross $100 million in annualized revenue based on its most recent month of business, and the recently announced Paktor Labs<\/a>\u00a0division.\u00a0That revenue \u2014 and there\u2019s no word on profit; we did ask \u2014 is up ten-times over the past six-months. All together, the apps claim a combined 50 million users.<\/p>\n Pua, who believes the firm can double its revenues before the end of this year, is particularly bullish around the potential of live-streaming.<\/p>\n \u201cLive-streaming allows us to expand into numerous other areas, for example content production. Right now, we\u2019ve only touched the content on live-streaming. With one small screen taking up 45 minutes [of a user\u2019s] day, we can support a huge company,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the revenue side, $100 million in [annualized] revenue is sizable when you compare it to traditional media, which relies on advertising \u2014 something we haven\u2019t done yet,\u201d Pua added.<\/p>\n Beyond enabling consumer live-streaming,\u00a0M17 plans to work with established media and high-profile media personalities to tap into mobile in a way that the firm believes they aren\u2019t doing yet. Already, it has partnered with (its investor) MNC in Indonesia and Yahoo in Taiwan to explore new broadcast methods and monetization options, and Pua believes there\u2019s much more to come.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u00a0want\u00a0to explore ways to monetize with audiences with traditional media using both existing and new stars,\u201d he said, adding that\u00a0M17 has begun housing new\u00a0stars\u00a0under its\u00a0own talent agent.\u00a0\u201cCelebs are finding monetization is very significant on live-streaming.\u201d<\/p>\n Pua didn\u2019t diverge specific revenues for his company\u2019s live-streaming services \u2014 other that it is \u201csignificant\u201d \u2014 but he did say that 17 (the app) claims 15 million registered users. Unfortunately, the company doesn\u2019t reveal user activity data, although it claims 50,000 active streamers and top-three app store rankings in the live-streaming category\u00a0in six Asian countries.<\/p>\n Even if engagement\u00a0is high, there\u2019s strong competition for attention. The list of established companies moving into streaming is nearly endless. Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch and then in China fellow dating app Momo, and fast-growing\u00a0Kuaishou among others. Competing against destinations that already have audiences in the hundreds of millions, if not billions, is a tall order, but Pua said he believes that M17 has an advantage because it has been built for streaming from day one.<\/p>\n \u201cFacebook and Instagram Live are great. Facebook has embraced live tech and we are all moving in the right direction, but different mediums have different purposes,\u201d he said. \u201cWith\u00a017, you build your fanbase and expose yourself to people who wouldn\u2019t have already discovered you.\u00a0People recognize brands for what they were not what they want to\u00a0build to.\u201d<\/p>\n That longer term challenge aside, Pua is stacking more cash in the short term even though he said the company is already suitably financed. Paktor has raised $77 million from investors since its foundation in 2013, according to Crunchbase<\/a>, but\u00a0now\u00a0M17 is closing\u00a0an undisclosed \u2014 but \u201csignificant\u201d \u2014 new round with\u00a0the\u00a0KTB China Synergy Fund its first confirmed investor.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u00a0wouldn\u2019t say it was difficult to raise this round, but I\u2019m cautious about the environment and want to make sure we always have options,\u201d Pua said. \u201cWe\u2019ve not been stronger over the last four years. Our goal remains the same:\u00a0building the largest social entertainment company in the region.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Revenue potential of live-streaming<\/h2>\n
Battling established names<\/h2>\n
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Dating app Paktor, often dubbed ‘The Tinder of Southeast Asia,’ just sealed up its move into live-streaming and media content after it announced a merger deal with Taiwanese startup 17 Media.
\nUnder the deal, a new company called\u00a0M17 Entertainment has been created with shares from both Paktor and 17 Media, company representatives confirmed. They didn’t, however, reveal a… Read More<\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/img><\/a>
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