Paytm and Tencent to invest $100 million in MX Player: Report

Indian digital payment platform Paytm and Tencent Holdings plan to invest $100 million in Indian streaming service MX Player as per a report by Bloomberg.

Tencent, the China-based operator of WeChat, has invested in movies and Over the Top (OTT) content in different countries.

MX player competes with platforms like Netflix, Amazon and Hotstar in the fast-growing streaming market in India. The report noted that India made for an attractive investment destination due to the high consumption of subscribed content and the scope for foreign players to expand in the streaming and television industry with 100 percent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

India will be the tenth-largest market for OTT in terms of revenue by 2022, with mobile internet subscribers set to double from to 805 million by that time, up from 406 million in 2017 to according to PwC.

The market has low internet rates with preference to consume content on the go. MX Player is owned by Times Internet, whose major viewership comes from small towns.

This deal will open doors to the huge Indian consumer base for the Chinese social media giant via localized content.The details of the deal remain private with discussions in the last stage with no official statements from the parties involved as per the report.