The much-hyped online video service Joost, which launched in open-beta last week, has raised a big round of funding: $45 million. The round included Sequioa Capital, Index Ventures, Li Ka-shing, the Hong Kong tycoon, and CBS...all have taken “small minority” stakes in the start-up, the FT story says. Viacom is also among the investors (gets minority stake), although the nature of its backing has not been disclosed (it did a broad distribution deal with Joost…there could be some contra advertising across Viacom properties, but that’s my guess).

SEE ALSO: Warner Bros. TV Makes First Online Deal; Exclusive With Joost

Joost was hatched by Skype founders Janus Friis and Niklas Zennstrom last year, and seed-funded by the money they got from selling Skype to eBay.

From the release: Joost expects to work with Li and his affiliated companies, to expand its distribution in China and other parts of Asia.

Earlier this year online video rival Brightcove raised $59.5 million in its third round from NYT and others, following a $16 million second round last year.