UK online movie retailer BlackStar Associates Ltd has secured a $6m venture capital investment from Atlas Venture Ltd and Texas Pacific Group, valuing BlackStar at around $18m. BlackStar bills itself as the UK’s largest video and DVD online shop, and has been trading for 18 months. Although the firm is profitable, it needed a significant war chest said founder Darryl Collins, to take on high-street retailers such as HMV and Virgin, both of which are putting together plans for e-commerce stores.
The money will be used in part to pay for an upcoming marketing campaign, to advertise to a broader cross-section of the public, rather than just movie magazine readers. The larger portion of the cash will be invested in infrastructure, staff and facilities. BlackStar says it keeps 50,000 titles in stock, compared to around 2,500 in a typical high-street equivalent.
