Joost has 150 channels of online content

Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstroem set up Joost in January 2006 to offer broadband users full-screen, high-quality video on their computers.

CBS and Viacom are already content providers for the service.

The other investors are Index Ventures, Sequoia Capital and Li Ka-shing, the chairman of Hutchison Whampoa.

Content deals

Index Ventures is a European venture capital firm, while Sequoia Capital is described as having been the first investor and business partner of companies making up 10% of the value of the Nasdaq hi-tech index.

Mr Friis and Mr Zennstroem were also behind the music site Kazaa, which was unpopular with the music industry because people used it to download music without paying for it.

There are not expected to be any such problems with Joost, which has signed deals with content providers such as Viacom, which is providing content from MTV, Nickelodeon, Paramount and Comedy Central.

Online video viewing has taken off as broadband connections have become more popular, but there is some concern that people with monthly download limits on their connections may have to pay more if they use Joost.