Roku Raises $45 Million from News Corporation, BSkyB and Others

Roku has announced it has received $45 million in a new strategic investment from News Corporation, BSkyB, prior Roku venture investors Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners as well as an unnamed strategic investor. The new relationships include both financial backing and business agreements.

The investment will be used to build further brand awareness through advertising, develop new international markets, and increase engineering and production to support sales growth of both hardware and digital media services on the platform, games, transactional and pay-per-view video as well as content packages.

The company will also be looking to launch the Roku Streaming Stick this fall – a wireless, dongle-sized streaming device that integrates with newer TVs and consumer electronics devices. The streaming stick is Roku’s first step in expanding its platform from streaming players to Smart TVs and other devices connected to the TV.