LeSports cashed up for next expansion phase

LeSports has raised RMB 8 billion in its Series B financing, boosting the company’s valuation to RMB 21.5 billion, said Jia Yueting, founder, chairman and CEO of Le Holdings at the 2016 China (Shenzhen) IT Summit.Under its unique sports ecosystem “events operation + content platform + smart devices + Internet service”, LeSports has quickly become the leading platform in China’s Internet sports industry by completing its Series A financing in May 2015 and winning the exclusive new media partnership rights of the Chinese Super League (CSL) for the next two years in February 2016.The company now boasts copyrights to 310 of the world’s top sporting events on its content platform, with 72% of them exclusive.LeSports has been expanding its sports businesses in the past six months, including being the title sponsor of the Wukesong Stadium, striking partnership with Beijing Guoan Football Club, developing sports e-commerce, as well as launching LeSports’ Superbike and other UGC-based smart devices.In addition to institutions like HNA Capital, LeSports’ Series B financing also attracted celebrity investors like Sun Honglei, Jia Nailiang and Liu Tao.