Saratoga-Based Roku Raises $45 Million in New Funding

Saratoga, Calif. -- Roku, the Saratoga-based developer of a streaming platform for delivering video, music and casual games to the TV, said on Thursday it has raised $45 million in a new round of funding. New investors News Corp. and British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) joined previous backers Menlo Ventures and Globespan Capital Partners in the round, which also included an unnamed investor. Roku said it will use the new capital to bolster advertising, develop new international markets and increase engineering and production to support sales growth of both its hardware and digital media services. In addition to its line of Roku streaming players, the company this fall plans to launch the Roku Streaming Stick -- a wireless, dongle-sized streaming device that integrates with newer TVs and consumer electronics devices. Roku launched the first player to stream Netflix to the TV in 2008, and now streams more than 500 entertainment channels to customers.
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