Vancouver online entertainment company BroadbandTV announced June 26 that it has received a $36 million investment from European entertainment giant RTL Group in exchange for a 51% shareholding in the company.
RTL subsidiary Freemantle Media owns popular entertainment franchises such as Idol, Got Talent and X-Factor.
The money will help BroadbandTV CEO Shahrzad Rafati, who is a 2012/13 Business in Vancouver Top 40 under 40 award winner, expand operations. Rafati also made Fast Company's 2011 list of the world's Top 100 creative people.
BroadbandTV's business model is to use its proprietary software to detect videos that are uploaded to YouTube in an unauthorized way. BroadbandTV then contacts the owner of each video's intellectual property and offers that owner the ability to profit from advertising that is placed on YouTube before the videos play.
"BroadbandTV has been on a rapid growth trajectory since we began, and that pace will only accelerate with our partnership with RTL Group," said Rafati.
"We are thrilled to have the powerful resources of RTL Group behind us. In addition to the competitive advantage for BroadbandTV, our customers and partners will benefit greatly from RTL Group's global reach, advertising sales and expertise in producing amazing content."
RTL's investment is expected to be part of a planned series of investments in BroadbandTV, which was founded in 2005.
In December, BroadbandTV was recognized as one of Canada's top digital companies.
