Mubi has responded to online criticism of its investment from Sequoia Capital, the investment firm with connections to Israeli defence technology firm Kela, saying“the beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of Mubi”.
Sequoia led a $100m investment in Mubi in May this year, in what marks a rare foray into film and media for the US-based venture capital firm.
With money in companies including Apple, Google, Stripe, Airbnb and ByteDance, Sequoia also invests in defence technology startup Kela, which was founded in July 2024 and is developing an operating system to enable militaries to integrate artificial intelligence and commercial technology.
Sequoia led Kela’s $10m seed-funding round last year, according to Sequoia’s website. Kela then secured $60m in additional funding, also backed by Sequoia, with total investment in Kela now at $100m.
Mubi’s association with Sequoia has drawn criticism from some online commenters who say they have cancelled their Mubi subscriptions as a result of the funding, which they object to based on the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and its impact on the civilians of Gaza.
Mubi posted a statement on its Instagram page on Saturday, June 14, in response to the criticisms.
“Our decision to work with outside investors has always served one purpose: to accelerate our mission of delivering bold and visionary films to global audiences,” said the statement, which can be read in full below. “This was the rationale behind our recent partnership with the venture firm Sequoia Capital.
“Over the last several days, some members of our community have commented on the decision to work with Sequoia given their investment in Israeli companies and the personal opinions expressed by one of their partners. The beliefs of individual investors do not reflect the views of Mubi.”
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Mubi was founded in 2007 by technology entrepreneur Efe Cakarel. The company has grown from being an arthouse streaming platform and distributor to a major player in the production and distribution of international cinema.
As distributor, it holds rights in at least two territories to eight of the 22 Cannes Competition films from last month, including Lynne Ramsay’s Die, My Love, Oliver Hermanus’s The History Of Sound and Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just An Accident.
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