Investment to fuel accelerated development of next-generation technologies and global delivery of the world’s localized content
Iyuno-SDI Group, the leading provider of localization services to the media and entertainment industry (“Iyuno-SDI” or the “Company”), today announced it has secured a $160 million investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2*. The investment will provide Iyuno-SDI with the necessary resources to support its mission of transforming the localization industry. SoftBank Vision Fund 2 will become one of the largest shareholders of Iyuno-SDI and join its Board of Directors together with Altor, David Lee – Iyuno-SDI Group CEO, Shamrock Capital Advisors and SoftBank Ventures Asia Corp.
Iyuno-SDI Group has been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge solutions, leveraging the best of AI and Neural Machine Translation technologies in combination with creative and linguistic skills from a collective 70 years of experience in delivering the highest quality localization services to the world’s largest content producers and distributors.
“SoftBank Vision Fund 2 joining Iyuno-SDI’s impressive group of investors is a significant milestone in the evolution of our company,” said David Lee, CEO of Iyuno-SDI Group. “SoftBank Vision Fund 2’s portfolio companies are each transformative in their respective industries and Iyuno-SDI is proud to join this network of businesses innovating and advancing the state of the art.”
“We believe the media and entertainment sector is undergoing massive disruption, as content distribution and consumption patterns are dramatically changing,” said Chris Lee, Director at SoftBank Investment Advisers. “We are excited to partner with David and the Iyuno-SDI team to support their mission of delivering technology-driven localization services to the media and entertainment industry.”
SoftBank Group earlier became one of the first institutional investors of Iyuno Media Group through its venture capital arm, SoftBank Ventures Asia Corp. in 2018 and has continued to support the Company’s growth initiatives.
The announcement of SoftBank Vision Fund 2’s investment in Iyuno-SDI comes only two weeks after Iyuno Media Group’s completion of its acquisition of SDI Media – nearly doubling the combined company’s global footprint with 67 offices across 34 countries.
ABOUT IYUNO-SDI GROUP
Iyuno-SDI Group is the media and entertainment industry’s leading localization service provider. As a trusted global partner to the world’s most recognized entertainment studios, streaming platforms and creators, it offers end-to-end localization services – from dubbing, subtitling and access services to media management, transformation and distribution services – in over 100 languages for every type of content distribution platform. With deep roots in the industry dating back to 1965, the company is unmatched in operational expertise, scale, capacity and breadth of services.
Iyuno-SDI Group was formed in 2021 following the acquisition of SDI Media by Iyuno Media Group. Leveraging the best in breed creative and technical talent, state of the art facilities and next generation technologies, the company now boasts the largest global footprint with 67 offices in 34 countries. The company’s scale and customer-centric approach is focused on its mission of connecting content, connecting people.
*As of the date of this press release, SoftBank Group Corp. has made capital contributions to allow investments by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 (“SVF 2”) in certain portfolio companies. The information included herein is made for informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy limited partnership interests in any fund, including SVF 2. SVF 2 has yet to have an external close, and any potential third-party investors shall receive additional information related to any SVF 2 investments prior to closing.