China’s live-streaming frenzy is still on, at least in the e-sports space. Douyu TV, China’s Twitch counterpart, just finalized an undisclosed amount in a Series D round led by CMB International. The funding size is over RMB 1 billion ($150 million), raised at a valuation of over RMB 10 billion, according to local media citing people familiar with the matter.
After the round, the Hubei and Shenzhen arm of CMB International will take 4.69% and 0.53% stakes in Douyu TV. State-backed Nanshan Capital, an existing investor of the company, will control 0.04% of the firm through this round. Douyu TV‘s previous $100 million C round was led by Tencent in 2016.
On top of the funding news, Douyu TV also disclosed that it is recording profits now and is expanding actively through external investments. As of present, the firm has invested in 11 live-streaming and video game startups, including e-sports club LCD-Gaming, e-sports fan community Famulei.com and live video streaming social network NonoLive.
Founded in 2013, Wuhan-base Douyu TV is the apparent frontrunner in China’s live e-sports broadcasting vertical. The company claims it controls over 70% of the market after gathering 30 million daily active users and nearly 200 million monthly active users.
However, Douyu TV is not without competitors. Panda TV, a live-streaming venture created by Wang Sicong, the only son of Chinese billionaire Wang Jianlin, just received RMB 1 billion funding in May this year. Other players in the field include Tencent’s Penguin E-sports and Huya.
Behind the hefty investment comes the e-sports and live-streaming boom in China, a market which worth RMB 40 billion last year.