Teresa López worked for almost ten years at Wuaki.tv, an online content platform that was renamed Rakuten TV in 2012 after being acquired by the Japanese multinational. When leaving the company, she contacted Jacinto Roca, one of the founders of Wuaki.tv, who had also left the company to start a new project. Both had in mind to produce thematic and free television channels for broadcast through screens connected to the Internet, especially televisions. It is what is known as Fast or free ad-supported streaming television.
"We saw how these types of channels were growing spectacularly in the United States, while in Europe there was no quality offer," explains López. The entrepreneur also points out that it is "thematic content, aimed at a very specific audience, so it is a very interesting audience for advertisers, who are willing to pay more per ad, which allows them to broadcast fewer ads to the benefit of the spectator”.
After making an investment of their own resources of 400,000 euros, López and Roca founded Love TV Channels in April of this year. In the summer they added 300,000 euros more to this initial investment, thanks to contributions from what is known as the three fs, from the English family, friends and fools (relatives, friends and people close to the entrepreneur). Now they have closed an investment round of around one million euros with the network of investors and business angels Esade BAN.
They have just launched their first two channels on the market: Love Magazine, a window to current events in the world of cinema and series, and Love Wine, a channel about wine. For the first quarter of 2023, they plan to see a third channel appear on the screens, Love The Planet, designed to reveal to the audience the challenges facing the planet, as well as new, more sustainable ways of life. “The important thing is make channels that hook the audience”, indicates the entrepreneur.
They are targeting the European market, but they also want to get a foothold in the American market. “In the United States, six out of ten television users already watch this type of channel. In Europe they are still taking off, but there are already 50 million active users, which in three or four years will reach between 150 and 200 million”, says López. His ambition is for Love TV Channels to be the European leader in its market.
The emerging company has established its headquarters in Barcelona and employs a dozen people.
