As part of its Media II initiative, which runs from 1996 to 2000, the European Union has appointed a French company, Multimedia Investissements SA to channel funds into multimedia development. Funding is coming both from the European Union and commercial companies, and Multimedia Investissements has so far secured financing from 25 public or private bodies broadly involved with multimedia, and will announce this week at the Mipcom broadcasting forum in Cannes the first 15 projects it will fund. Backers include the British Broadcasting Corp, Bertelsmann AG, Kirch Gruppe AG, publisher Havas SA, Philips Electronics NV and Nethold NV. The new company will invest some $48m over five years out of the communal funds of around $96m.
