Orange is investing in subscription video on demand (SVoD) startup Afrostream in an attempt to boost its TV offer in Africa and Europe.
Afrostream, which provides African, African-American and African-Caribbean films and television series, is being funded by Orange Digital Ventures and supported in part by Orange’s Fab accelerator programme.
The France-based operator said it was investing in Afrostream in order to help develop the VOD market in Africa, which Orange continues to target as a major growth area.
Orange also hopes the new service will boost its TV proposition in its home market, where Afrostream will land in 2016.
Operators have been taken to task for not doing enough to cater for the diverse nature of their subscribers.
In August, Lebara launched new entertainment service Play, which caters specifically for its ethnic customer base.
The MVNO’s CEO Aditya Thakur suggested rivals are offering a service that is too homogenous for customer tastes.
Pierre Louette, Deputy CEO of Orange and President of Orange Digital Ventures, said: “This investment is part of ODV’s ambition to finance services that are able to address different geographical areas in which Orange is present.
“It will enable us to develop the video-on-demand market, particularly in Africa. It will also enable us to enrich the content we already offer to our customers in France, as Afrostream should be launched on Orange TV by next summer.”
