Online-movie streaming service Quickflix - which was seen as
being on shaky financial ground - received A$5 million in
funding and a new billionaire board member just in time for
Christmas.
Listed on the Australian stock exchange, Quickflix launched
in New Zealand on March 29 last year, but has been criticised
for its library of TV shows.
Its net loss for the 2012 financial year grew to A$13.97m, up
from A$2.96m the year before, and the company announced in
November that it would lay off around a third of its staff.
But on Christmas Eve the online content service said
investors, led by Los Angeles-based media entrepreneur Alki
David, had put A$5m into the company.
"Quickflix represents a key investment for me and the growth
potential for the company in the Asia Pacific market and
beyond is staggering," David said in a statement.
David, who is also joining Quickflix's board, reportedly
enjoys practical jokes, and has an apparent net worth of
almost US$2 billion.
According to the Australian newspaper, he is the heir to the
Coca-Cola Hellenic shipping and bottling company and was born
in Lagos, Nigeria, in 1968.
Educated in Switzerland, the 44-year-old then served in the
British Army before studying at the Royal College of Art in
London, the Australian said.
According to the newspaper, David is also an actor who has
starred in a number of action movies, and has been married
three times.
- by Hamish Fletcher of the NZ Herald
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