(21 November 2007 3:25 pm)

MUMBAI: TinselVision, a broadband internet, video-on-demand (VoD) service delivering Indian TV and Bollywood film content to South Asian communities overseas, has raised fresh funding of over $3 million.

Though the company did not disclose the exact amount it had raised, it confirmed that it "exceeded the Series A funding level of $3 million" and established "the company's pre-launch, post-money valuation at nearly $20 million."

TinselVision has secured terms for an inside, up-round for Series B financing, led by its current investor Innovative Entertainment Limited (IEL).

TinselVision will use Series B funding to extend its investments in grassroots community and online viral marketing, in addition to key hires in senior management, content acquisition, advertising sales and extensible distribution.

TinselVision chairman and CEO Chase Weir said, "We committed to achieve value creation and content momentum exceeding marketplace norms when we closed Series A funding just five months ago. We have now exceeded the milestones in our original forecasts and commitments and, our investors have confirmed these accomplishments with a near doubling in share value and more than doubling their invested capital."

The new capital comes just before the company is to announce four additional online distribution deals with leading Indian film, television and music production houses.

Over the past few months, TinselVision has secured content licensing deals with Star TV, Zee TV, Yash Raj Films and Zoom TV.

The US-India based venture is already in discussions for Series C funding. It intends to disclose terms secured for collapsed film release, cricket licensing, exclusive IPTV technology rights, and advanced business intelligence offerings to its advertisers and licensors in the coming weeks, in addition to unveiling designs for its v3.0 online services and social networking features.