The Bulgarian healthy lifestyle and personal development channel Wness TV has secured funding of BGN500,000 (€255,000) from three investors.
Capital names them as Pavel Stantchev, the former head of bTV; Vassil Terziev, the co-founder of Telerik; and Stefan Gugushev of Gugiushev & Partners, adding that they will receive a minority interest in the channel.
Ivan Todorov, a former long-term producer at Nova TV, will remain the main owner, with a 60% stake.
Wness TV was launched in December 2015 at a cost of BGN200,000 and is now carried by all major operators in larger Bulgarian cities. It also recently secured distribution on the services operated by Mtel, Vivacom and Bulsatcom. Furthermore, an English language version of the channel is available in Croatia.
Wness TV has been distributed by Eutelsat 16A since January this year and the new funding will help it expand to Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. It will also become available online in Bulgaria and other European markets,