Starzplay received 92 million dirhams ($25 million) in debt financing from an Abu Dhabi-based fund as demand for content increases amid the Covid-19 pandemic. “Where global players and platforms meet challenges and difficulties, we see opportunity and hope,” Maaz Sheikh, the Chief Executive Office of Starzplay, said. “We localize the experience, we localize the content offering like no other global platform and that’s really been the key to our success.”
The Dubai-based online streaming platform will use the funds from Ruya Partners to further strengthen the company’s geographic and customer reach as well as to acquire and produce original content, according to a statement Wednesday. The financing marks Ruya Partners’ first tech investment in the United Arab Emirates.
The service has garnered 1.8 million subscribers so far, with a local market share of more than 32% following a spike in 2020. The growth for Starzplay amounted to approximately 40% in 2020 in its paid subscriber base. Projections indicate that the number of users will double over the next three to four years to around 4 million. In preparation for an initial public offering, the Middle Eastern competitor of Netflix is aiming for revenue to reach a range of $120 million to $150 million.
Ruya Partners, established last year, is partially owned by Abu Dhabi Catalyst Partners, which was created through a joint venture between Mubadala Investment Co. and Falcon Edge Capital. In addition to the latest round of financing, Starzplay raised $125 million in equity funding since its launch in 2015 from State Street Global Advisors and STARZ, a company owned by Lionsgate Entertainment Corp. “We remain committed to IPO plans,” Sheikh said. “We see still two or three years of growth to come and prepare ourselves in listing the business.”