Showmax
Africa's homegrown streaming service.
- Category:
- Entertainment
- Country:
- South Africa
- Founded:
- 2015
- Cause of Failure:
- Unsustainable losses / Canal+ Consolidation
- Outcome:
- Shutdown
- Shut Down in:
- April 2026
- Founders:
- Antonin Kral, John Kotsaftis
- Number of Founders:
- 2
- Number of Employees:
- 251-500
- Funding Amount:
- $309.00 M
- Last Funding Round:
- Corporate Equity
- Notable Investors:
- NBCUniversal, MultiChoice
About Showmax
Africa's premier video-on-demand service that specialized in local content and live sports, aiming to provide a homegrown alternative to global streaming giants.
What went wrong?
Despite record subscriber growth and technical excellence, Showmax was saddled with massive Peacock platform fees and mounting operating losses (R4.9bn in 2025), leading Canal+ to shutter it in favor of a unified DStv/Canal+ ecosystem.
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