China’s Xiaomi leads US$25 million investment in Indian entertainment company

High-flying Chinese technology start-up Xiaomi has made its first investment in an Indian company, leading a US$25-million funding round in Hungama Digital Media Entertainment.

Other participants in that round for Hungama, the country’s largest digital media entertainment company, included existing investors Intel Capital, Bessemer Venture Partners, and Indian billionaire Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Xiaomi said in a statement on Monday.

Xiaomi, the world’s fifth-largest supplier of smartphones, described the investment as part of its strategy to introduce localised internet services to its handset users in India.

“We think of smartphones as a platform for us to deliver internet services, and this includes content,” said Hugo Barra, the vice-president for global operations at Xiaomi.

“As our user base in India grows and as 4G penetration in India continues to pick up, we will start to see more and more consumption of digital media through Xiaomi devices.”

The company entered India in July 2014 and started local production a year later with its contract manufacturer, Hong Kong-listed FIH Mobile.

Beset by slow growth in their home market, many Chinese mobile phone suppliers have ramped up expansion in India as the country’s appetite for advanced, low-cost smartphones continued to develop.