Xiaomi makes its first investment in Indian company Hungama

Xiaomi announced that it has led a $25 million investment into digital media entertainment company Hungama. Other participants in the round include existing investors Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners and Indian investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. This would be the first investment that Xiaomi has made in an Indian company. Currently, over 75 percent of its smartphones sold in India are made in India. In a press statement, Xiaomi said in the near future, the company will start integrating Hungama’s content services into its platforms, which will also include themes and ringtones. Hungama has reportedly over 8000 movies in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Bengali, Punjabi and six other Indian regional languages on its platform andhas built partnerships with over 700 content creators as well. Hugo Barra, Vice President, Xiaomi said, “Xiaomi has been an Internet company from the very start. We think of smartphones as a platform for us to deliver Internet services, and this includes content. As our user base in India grows and as 4G penetration in India continues picking up, we will start to see more and more consumption of digital media through Xiaomi devices.” He added, “We are investing in Hungama not only to start integrating content into our smartphones, but also to grow together with them and deepen our understanding of the content sector in India. We have carefully selected Hungama because of what they are doing in terms of aggregating large amounts of content and delivering an amazing user experience.”