Quibi raises another $750 million, a month before its launch

Quibi, a star-studded mobile subscription service for short-form video launching in a month, raised $750 million in its second round of funding, the company said Tuesday. Quibi had already gotten attention for raising $1 billion in its first funding round, in 2018, including backing from all the major Hollywood studios. The latest round brings Quibi’s total raised to $1.75 billion.

The influx will give the company more time to advance its unconventional strategy of making very expensive programming in an untested format: serialized videos that last 10 minutes or less and that you can watch only on phones or mobile devices.

Quibi’s ramp-up comes in the midst of a parade of new streaming services launching, as tech and media giants both are rushing to define the future of video. Facing upstart competition from Disney Plus, Apple TV Plus, Peacock and HBO Max, Quibi will be vying for your subscription dollars against established players like Netflix, too. Not to mention, Quibi will need to compete for your attention against YouTube, the original specialist in short videos online with a free service that already draws in more than 2 billion viewers every month.

The second round of funding involved investments from existing investors as well as new ones, including studios, technology companies, strategic partners and financial investors, Quibi said, without naming them.

The company’s initial round of investors included all the major Hollywood studios, as well as Goldman Sachs.