LeEco Funding, Investors & Competitors

LeEco has raised $633M across 2 funding rounds, most recently a $600M Series C in November 2016.

See full LeEco profile

Last LeEco funding round

$600M

Series C · Nov 2016

Cumulative funding LeEco raised

$633M

across 2 funding rounds

Key investors in LeEco

LeEco Overview

About LeEco

LeEco delivers video streaming of movies, dramas, and sports alongside hardware like Le Pro smartphones and SuperTVs from its Beijing headquarters. Originally founded as LeTV in 2004, the firm expanded into electric vehicles with LeSee Auto and global content licensing, operating Le.com platforms in China and the US.


Founded

2004

HQ

ChinaBeijing

Website

leeco.com

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2C

Revenue model

Subscription, Product sales

LeEco Funding History

LeEco has raised a total of $633M across 2 funding rounds.

LeEco's first fundraising round was a $33M Series A in August 2013. The most recent completed round was a $600M Series C in November 2016.

LeEco funding rounds

LeEco funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedDeal Summary
Nov 2016Series CLuye Pharma Gr; Heilan Group; Man Wah Holdings$600MLeEco, a Chinese internet conglomerate known as the 'Netflix of China,' raised $600 million in November 2016 from over a dozen Chinese investors, including Jia Yueting's classmates from Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business and companies like China Heilan Group. The funding came amid a cash crunch acknowledged by CEO Jia, who warned of unsustainable expansion across smart TVs, streaming services, smartphones, commerce, and electric vehicles via Faraday Future. The capital was earmarked primarily for LeEco's car business, the LeSee Plan, and LeEco Global Holdings, following heavy prior investments exceeding 10 billion yuan in the automotive division. LeEco simultaneously announced a strategic pivot, appointing Anthony Gao as APAC CEO, halting horizontal expansion in Asia-Pacific, and prioritizing cash flow growth, user base expansion, and core markets. This followed Jia's internal memo highlighting weak fundraising and capital structure issues. LeEco boasted significant user traction in China with over 50 million daily active users and 730 million monthly active users, plus a content library of 5,000 movies and 100,000 TV episodes since 2004. The company had pursued aggressive U.S. growth, including a $2 billion Vizio acquisition attempt, California site purchases, and high-profile hires, but shifted focus amid financial pressures.
Aug 2013Series AShenzhen Capital Group (lead)$33MLeEco received a $32.5 million Series A funding round in 2013 from Shenzhen Capital Group, a Shenzhen-based venture capital firm founded in 1999 with significant assets under management. The investment supported LeEco's ambitions to become a global leader in video streaming and electric cars. Despite this backing, LeEco later collapsed due to an unhealthy reliance on debt, leading to CEO Jia Yueting being blacklisted in China in 2017 for over $72 million in outstanding debt. Shenzhen Capital Group, which transitioned from state-owned roots to a private firm, managed numerous funds focused on equipment manufacturing and supply chain services. The LeEco deal was highlighted as its most famous investment, yet the company faced capital chain troubles as revealed in an internal letter from Jia Yueting. Shenzhen weathered the failure and continued investing in other ventures like Rokae's Series C round. Later data from 2015 shows subsidiary LeCloud with revenue of RMB 562 million but losses of RMB 100 million, and Leshi Zhixin with losses of RMB 730 million, indicating accelerating losses despite revenue growth in some areas.

Who has invested in LeEco?

4 investors have backed LeEco across its funding rounds, including Shenzhen Capital Group, Luye Pharma Gr, Heilan Group and Man Wah Holdings.

Lead investors include Shenzhen Capital Group.


LeEco Investors

Investors in LeEco by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Luye Pharma GrChinaChina1ParticipantNov 2016
Heilan GroupChinaJiangyin1ParticipantNov 2016

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Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

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Acquisitions by LeEco

LeEco has acquired 1 company to date.

Last acquisition by LeEco was on September 14th 2016. LeEco acquired Dichotomy Creative Group for undisclosed valuation.


Latest Acquisitions by LeEco

Dichotomy Creative Group
Description
Dichotomy Creative Group is a Los Angeles-based film and television production company emphasizing iterative storytelling workflows inspired by animation pipelines. It develops live-action features and series for theatrical and streaming distribution. The studio maintains independence following a brief acquisition by LeEco in 2016.
HQ CountryUnited States
HQ City
Los Angeles, CA
Deal Date14 Sep 2016
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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Investments by LeEco

LeEco has invested in 7 companies to date.

Latest investment by LeEco was on December 1st 2016. LeEco invested in Yunding Technology in their $9M Series B round.


Latest Investments by LeEco

Yunding Technology
Lancai
Coolpad Group
Yidao Yongche
Description
Yunding Technology Co Ltd is a high-tech company focusing on the intelligent industry of the energy industry. It focuses its development strategy on the field of industrial Internet services and develops in-depth in the field of mining industrial intelligence and coal gasification technology, providing customers with integrated system research and development, design, operation, and maintenance.
Lancai is a Beijing-headquartered fintech firm offering personalized investment products for urban professionals. Its platform provides flexible fixed-income and wealth management options with yields from 4-6% annually. Backed by investors including Sequoia China, Lancai serves over 1 million users through mobile apps integrated with Alipay and WeChat Pay. The company emphasizes risk assessment via big data analytics.
Coolpad Group Ltd is an investment holding company that develops and provides integrated solutions for smartphone sets, mobile data platform systems, and value-added businesses in Mainland China and internationally. The company operates in three segments: Mobile Phone, Property Investment, and Cryptocurrencies business segment. The Mobile Phone segment, which derives the majority of revenue, engages in the research, development, production, and sale of mobile phones and related accessories and the provision of wireless application service, and the Property Investment segment invests in properties for rental income potential and for capital appreciation. The company generates a majority of its revenue from Mainland China.
Yidao Yongche (also known as Yongche) was a Beijing-based car rental and private car-hailing service in China, among the early entrants in the country's ride-hailing market before Didi Kuaidi and Uber came to dominate. The company expanded to more than 20 cities, including overseas markets serving Chinese tourists.
HQ CountryChinaChinaChinaChina
HQ City
Beijing
Beijing
Shenzhen
-
Deal Date1 Dec 201618 Aug 201617 Jun 201620 Oct 2015
RoundSeries BSeries BSecondaryStrategic investment
Raised$9M$27M$135M$700M
InvestorsRed Star Macalline Group; Lenovo Star; Midea Group; Harvest Fund Management---
Valuationundisclosedundisclosed$11Bundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

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LeEco Competitors

LeEco competitors include listed companies like News Corp and RUM Group, and private ones like RIDI, Kuaikan Manhua, NewsBreak and Pocket FM.

Public and private companies comparable to LeEco
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
RIDISouth KoreaSeoulPrivate$157M-$1.3B8.3x
Kuaikan ManhuaChinaBeijingPrivate$50M-$1.3B25.0x
NewsBreakUnited StatesSan Francisco, CAPrivate--$1.1B-
Pocket FMIndiaIndiaPrivate$150M-$750M5.0x
News CorpUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$9B$1.5B$17B2.0x
RUM GroupUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$101M($78M)$3.6B19.4x

LeEco Public Comps

LeEco is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Alphabet, Amazon, Netflix, Disney, Spotify, Comcast, NetEase, Warner Bros. Discovery, East Money and Baidu.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Alphabet$403B$176B10.2x8.7x23.3x19.0x
Amazon$717B$161B3.9x3.5x17.5x13.8x
Netflix$45B$30B7.1x6.4x10.6x19.8x
Disney$94B$19B2.4x2.3x12.3x10.3x
Spotify$20B$2.4B5.0x4.5x40.5x29.9x
Comcast$124B$46B1.3x1.4x3.5x4.8x
NetEase$17B$5.8B3.1x3.0x8.9x7.7x
Warner Bros. Discovery$37B$21B2.7x2.8x4.8x12.0x

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Common questions about LeEco

When was LeEco founded?LeEco was founded in 2004.
Where is LeEco headquartered?LeEco is headquartered in Beijing, China.
Is LeEco publicly listed?No, LeEco is a private, VC-backed company.
How much funding has LeEco raised?LeEco has raised $633M across 2 funding rounds.
What was LeEco's last funding round?LeEco's last funding round was a $600M Series C in November 2016.
Who are LeEco's investors?LeEco's investors include Luye Pharma Gr, Heilan Group, Man Wah Holdings and Shenzhen Capital Group.
Which companies are comparable to LeEco?Companies comparable to LeEco include RIDI, Kuaikan Manhua, NewsBreak, Pocket FM, News Corp and RUM Group.
How many companies has LeEco acquired?LeEco has acquired 1 company, including Dichotomy Creative Group.
How many companies has LeEco invested in?LeEco has invested in 7 companies, including Yunding Technology, Lancai, Coolpad Group, Yidao Yongche, NP Entertainment, YL Entertainment & Sports and HS Entertainment.
What was LeEco's last investment?In December 2016, LeEco invested in Yunding Technology's $9M Series B alongside Red Star Macalline Group, Lenovo Star, Midea Group and 1 other investor.

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