Collab Asia Raises US$7.5m Series B Funding To Further Expand Its Footprint In Asia

● The Series B investment is led by Gorilla PE, and includes Samsung Ventures, PKSHA SPARX Algorithm Fund L.P., NCORE Ventures, and Altos Ventures –– who also invested in Collab Asia’s previous Series A round
● Collab Asia is a digital media company and social media influencer network that helps content creators maximise their financial and creative potential across multiple digital platforms
● Collab Asia manages over 1,800 YouTube channels worldwide that collectively have over 155 million subscribers and 2.5 billion monthly views
● Collab Asia has offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila, and Singapore
● The Singapore office opened in September 2019 and will serve as the company’s regional hub for Southeast Asia and also serve advertisers looking to expand marketing initiatives across the APAC region
● Collab Asia will use the funds to expand its services and grow its global workforce of 150 people
Singapore, 3 December 2019 – Collab Asia, a digital media company and social media influencer network, today announced that it has raised US$7.5 million in Series B funding in a round led by Gorilla Private Equity (Korea). Other investors include Samsung Ventures (Korea), PKSHA SPARX Algorithm Fund L.P. (Japan), NCORE VENTURES (Korea), and Silicon Valley-based Altos Ventures (USA). This latest investment follows a US$3 million Series A funding round in 2017 from Altos Ventures.
Collab Asia has set up offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila and most recently Singapore, and is already managing over 1,800 YouTube channels in key Asian markets. The channels encompass a cross-section of interests including gaming, beauty, music, lifestyle, animation, comedy and other formats of engaging, viral content to over 155 million subscribers, while generating over 2.5 billion monthly views on YouTube alone.
Collab Asia will use the funds to create localised content for Asia and focus on helping creators and content companies produce, distribute, monetise, and build audiences across multiple digital platforms. The office in Singapore will serve as a regional hub for Southeast Asia, and also serve advertisers looking to expand their marketing initiatives in the digital space across the APAC region.
Eugene Choi, CEO and Co-Founder of Collab Asia said: “Collab Asia set out to put creators first, so this Series B round of funding is a big milestone toward connecting creators with brands and other business opportunities to extend their reach and revenues.”
Han Kim, Managing Director at Altos Ventures said, “Today’s consumers crave freshness and authenticity. Influencers and user-generated content leverage social networks to deliver these, and brands are fast realising the value of companies such as Collab Asia as important change agents. We are excited to be on board with the Collab Asia team to drive developments and quality in content marketing.”
Collab Asia will continue to leverage its strategic relationship with Collab Inc’s affiliated presence in Los Angeles and New York to provide a truly global network for digital content creators, audiences, and brands. After spinning off from Collab Inc. in 2017, Collab Asia applied the know-how and experience gained from seven-year-old Collab’s digital content production, distribution, monetisation, and audience-building systems to capture explosive growth opportunities in the emerging markets of Asia. The company has even extended its business to China by working with platforms such as Duoyin, Bilibili, Toutiao, iQiyi, Baidu’s Haokan, and Tencent Video, and also effectively bringing Chinese content and creators to the rest of the world.
Allen Lee, COO and Co-Founder, Collab Asia, said: “Our first round of funding allowed us to prove that our business model works in every Asian market that we enter. We’re excited to continue our growth in each of our markets and strive for leadership in each business segment.”
Collab Asia will also be the Co-Presenting sponsor of the first-ever VidCon Asia Summit alongside Facebook. VidCon, continuing its international expansion under parent company Viacom, will hold the inaugural two-day event from December 3-4, 2019 at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore.
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About Collab Asia, Inc.
Collab Asia, Inc is a digital media company and social media influencer network with offices in Seoul, Tokyo, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Manila, and Singapore. The company was incubated as a division of Los Angeles-based Collab Inc. before separately incorporating in 2017. With an extensive partner network of social media influencers, content companies, and media platforms, Collab Asia offers creator management, branded content consulting and digital rights management (DRM) services.
For more information, please visit: www.collabasia.co