Brands
LeEco stores in two months, targets 500 stores over one year
BENGALURU: Chinese technology player LeEco which has had a number of launches of smartphones since it ventured into India in late January this year plans to have about 500 brick and mortar stores in India once it receives FIPB (Foreign Investment Promotion Board). Excerpts of a two minute interaction with LeEco COO of Smart Electronics –India Atul Jain on the side lines of a press conference for the launch of LeEco’s Le 2, Le Max2 smartphones and Le Mall in New Delhi yesterday:
When is LeEco likely to launch brick and mortar stores?
We are looking at FIPB approvals to come. As soon as we get the approvals from the government, we’ll start. It’s been two months since we have applied, normally the approval process takes around 3 to 4 months, so in a month or two we should get the approvals after which we’ll need some setup time.
How many stores are you looking at in the first phase?
We are looking at about 500 stores including franchise stores over the next one year from the date of our first store. Just to give you an update, we have started our brick and mortar distribution which is selling through brick and mortar stores yesterday. So now our Le 1s is available in brick and mortar, mom and pops stores, independent stores, multi-brand stores, besides online.
Do you have the supply chain to these outlets in place?
Yes, we have our supply chain in place for that.
What about your OTT platform? How long do you plan to continue giving it along with the cost of a phone, given that most cell phones now have a usage life of a year or less? Are you going to continue offering the Rs 4,999 Supertainment package included in the cost of the phone?
As of now, that’s what we are announcing. Even for the two new phones that we have launched today – Le 2 and Le Max2, the Supertainment package for a year is included in the cost of the phone. Eventually in the long term, there will be a payment mechanism. It will be on a monthly basis
What about LeEco’s own production facilities in India?
That’s also coming up. It’s difficult to say exactly when. It’s likely to happen in the next six months or so.
Do you plan to bring the four brands on your OTT platform under a single brand? Do you plan to offer these options separately?
We might. As of now we will offer the subscribers everything. Maybe eventually we will offer subscribers’ a choice. As of now we are just trying to get our content to move.
Brands
UK’s OnlyFans seeks US investor at $3bn valuation after owner’s death
The adult video platform is seeking stability after the death of its billionaire owner
LONDON: OnlyFans is looking for a new partner. The London-based adult video platform is in advanced talks to sell a minority stake of less than 20 per cent to Architect Capital, a San Francisco-based investment firm, in a deal that would value the business at more than $3bn (£2.2bn).
The move is driven by an urgent need for stability. Leonid Radvinsky, the Ukrainian-American billionaire who owned OnlyFans, died of cancer last month at the age of 43, leaving the future of one of Britain’s most profitable privately held businesses suddenly uncertain.
The choice of Architect Capital is not arbitrary. The firm has deep expertise in financial services, which aligns neatly with OnlyFans’ ambitions to offer banking products to its creators, many of whom have long struggled to access basic financial services because of the nature of their work.
The numbers behind OnlyFans are, by any measure, staggering. The platform posted revenues of $1.4bn in the year to 30th November 2024, with a pre-tax profit of $684m, up four per cent on the prior year. Payments to creators totalled $7.2bn over the same period, a rise of nearly ten per cent. Radvinsky personally collected $701m in dividends from the business in 2024 alone, on top of more than $1bn in such payments he had already received. The platform, run through its parent company Felix International, hosts 4.6m creator accounts, with performers keeping 80 per cent of subscription proceeds and the platform pocketing the remaining 20 per cent. It has 377m fan accounts in total.
The current minority stake talks represent a notable scaling back of ambitions. In January, OnlyFans was reported to be in discussions with Architect about selling a majority stake of 60 per cent. Before that, the company had explored a sale to a consortium led by Forest Road Company, a Los Angeles-based investment firm. Neither deal materialised.
OnlyFans has built an enormously lucrative business on content that mainstream finance has long refused to touch. Now, with its owner gone and a $3bn valuation on the table, it is looking for the kind of respectable institutional backing that might finally persuade the banks to take its calls.
