21st Century Fox said it invested $100M in Caffeine, a social broadcasting outfit that will distribute eSports, gaming and music content.
The outfit appear poised to compete in the growing work of eSports and with Amazon’s Twitch platform, which is popular with gamers and increasingly with advertisers.
In addition to the round of financing, in which existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Greylock Partners also participate, Caffeine announced an agreement with Live Nation, which will bring live concerts to the platform starting in the fourth quarter.
Fox’s $100 million went toward Caffeine and the new Caffeine Studios, which is jointly owned by Caffeine and Fox Sports.
Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman of 21st Century Fox, will joins Caffeine’s board and the stake in the company will stay with the new Fox after other assets are sold to the Walt Disney Co.
“The combination of the Caffeine platform with a content studio that benefits from Fox Sports’ expertise in live events and programming will help position Caffeine to deliver compelling experiences in esports, video gaming and entertainment,” said Lachlan Murdoch. “We are excited to partner with Caffeine and build something special for fans in the growing live social streaming esports and gaming space."
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