As the fallout from the momentous failure that was Quibi continues, investors are now clamouring to get their hands on whatever money is still left.
And it turns out, Australia is one such investor.
The AFR has revealed that The Future Fund – the government’s intergenerational fund that invests savings from taxpayers – invested $50 million into the streaming service, which hoped to disrupt the crowded market with short-form videos made for mobile.
Part of Quibi’s decision to shut down so soon was the aim to return as much capital to investors as possible.
This means Aussie taxpayers won’t be out of pocket the entire $50 billion.
“As Quibi winds down we’ll be receiving capital back,” a Future Fund spokesman said. “It’s in the nature of venture capital that some investments don’t work and some produce outsize returns.”
Quibi is set to end streaming on December 1.
There is now the possibility of some of Quibi’s content ending up on rival streaming services, which could also help return some more money to investors.
Whether or not this happens remains to be seen.
“At this time we do not know if the Quibi content will be available anywhere after our last day of service,” Quibi said in a statement.
