Sky has taken a multimillion-pound stake in Molotov, a French streaming platform that combines free and pay-TV channels.

It has invested €4m (£3.4m) in Molotov as part of a larger financing round, six months after it took a $45m stake in Asian Netflix rival iflix.

Molotov, founded in 2014 and launched publicly in July, offers a “freemium” model that offers live and on-demand viewing from both free and pay-TV channels.

The free service has 35 basic channels, including all the major French networks while for €9.99 subscribers can get another 37 channels.

“Sky has invested €4m in Molotov, an over-the-top video platform in France that distributes free and pay TV channels and content to consumers via a freemium model,” said Sky.

“This investment is part of a larger Molotov financing round and is the latest in a series of Sky investments in innovative startup companies.”