21st Century Fox is betting big on Caffeine, the nascent livestreaming platform for gamers. On Wednesday, the company announced a $100 million investment as part of the startup’s latest round of funding.
Andreessen Horowitz, Greylock Partners and other “undisclosed partners” are participating in the investment for an undisclosed sum, according to a release from the two companies.
Launched in 2016 by former Apple execs Ben Keighran and Sam Roberts, Caffeine is angling to become the streaming platform of choice for gamers, focusing on broadcasting e-sports, video games and other live content, similar to Amazon’s Twitch.
“We want to bring the world together around friends and live broadcasts,” Keighran, Caffeine’s chief executive, said in a statement. “It’s an ambitious goal, but one we believe is attainable with the support of our amazing new partners, our awesome and ever-growing community, and the content that together, we can bring onto the platform.”
The investment includes a new venture, Caffeine Studios, jointly owned by FOX Sports and Caffeine, that’ll create exclusive content centered on esports, sports, and video games.
“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.”
Caffeine had previously raised $46 million via two rounds of funding.