Le Young Pictures, a Chinese web TV and film studio established by the wife of LeEco's founder Jia Yueting, has raised an undisclosed amount series A financing at a valuation of RMB1.2 billion (US$174 million), according to Chinese media reports.
The young company, founded in June 2015 by Gan Wei, is the producer of popular web TV series Go Princess Go, which premiered in December 2015 and had recorded over 2.4 billion views and generated over US$1.5 million in profit.
The fundraising, if true, reflects how frothy valuations are for film and entertainment companies in China. Le Young Pictures does not have other major products outside of Go Princess Go.
Gan is a former actress and wife of Jia Yueting, founder of troubled Chinese Internet giant Le Eco. An executive at LeEco's video division previously told Chinese media that LeEco would partner with Le Young Pictures on its future productions, but the latter is an independent company both operationally and financially, despite the special relationship between the two companies' founders.
Le Young Pictures is currently working with Twenty-First Century Fox Inc and Korean Broadcasting System to produce a Korean version of the Go Princess Go series, an adaptation of a novel telling a story of a modern playboy traveling back in time 1,000 years to find himself in the body of a royal princess.
The show, with bisexuality and gender identity scenes, was forced to be taken offline by Chinese censors and later re-launched a "cleaner" version in January 2016.