Sky invests $2m in Silicon Valley start-up

Sky invested $2m in Silicon Valley-based media and entertainment content management firm SDVI on Tuesday, joining shareholders such as Fox, Turner and Discovery.

SDVI provides a cloud-based service to manage and optimise media companies' supply chains, allowing customers to make savings on infrastructure costs and improve financial tracking and reporting. Customers include Sky, Fox, Turner and Discovery.

The investment from Sky, which said the investment is part of their strategy to invest in innovative companies that can benefit Sky’s business with new ideas, insight and services, follows other recent investments under the strategy include a $4m investment in Israeli venture capital firm Remagine Ventures, a Tel-Aviv based company that focuses on investment in technology and entertainment.

Emma Lloyd, group director of business development and partnerships at Sky, said: “This new deal shows Sky’s ongoing ambition to invest in pioneering and disruptive emerging technologies that can enhance our products and customer offering. This is an exciting opportunity to gain insights from a leading provider of supply chain management to improve the efficiency of a core part of Sky’s business.”

Lawrence Kaplan, co-founder and chief executive at SDVI, said: "This strategic investment allows SDVI to partner with a true, global leader in television and media, while expanding our strong US position across Europe. SDVI and Sky have very strong alignment on the strategic future of media supply chain technologies and analytics, and this investment ensures our two companies continue to learn and grow together."