The United Nations plans a 2015 re-launch of its Irin humanitarian news agency as an independent non-profit organization.

A Hong Kong foundation has committed an investment of $25M over 15 years to help bankroll Irin, which covers the $22B humanitarian sector in Africa, Asia and he Middle East. Publshing in English, French and Arabic, Iran plans to push into China and South America.

Jho Low, spokesperson for the Jynwel Foundation, said its investment in Irin should help kick start it "with a strong enough capital base that they don't have to worry about money," according to a report in the Financial Times.

Irin will continue to get some funding from the UN, donors and advertising. It has syndication deals with Al Jazeera and UK's Guardian.

The FT compared Irin's business model to ProPublica, which runs as a donor-sponsored non-profit, and Vice Media, which has partnerships with Time Warner's HBO and Canada's Rogers Communications.

Irin was founded in 1995 following the genocide in Rwanda. Its UN funding was to expire at the end of the year.

Low told the FT that Irin has "the spirit of an NGO and at the same time the intensity of a business platform to ensure that our message gets around the world."