VC-backed Tudou plans for $150 million IPO

Tudou, which claims approximately 16% of the online video market, will be the PRC's first video domain to go public, coming at a time when analysts still question whether such sites can sustain revenues while relying on their current advertising models. Five-year-old Tudou counts VC firms including General Catalyst, GGV Capital, Granite Global Ventures, IDG China, JAFCO Asia and KTB Ventures among its backers, as well as Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings. Temasek, along with VC firms, contributed to a $50 million Series E round of funding in August, taking the amount Tudou has raised through these investment rounds to $135 million.

Tudou's main competitor, Youku.com, which claims 20% of the domestic market, is also rumored to be planning an IPO next year, though no details have been disclosed. Although seen as competitors in the PRC, earlier this year Tudou's founder Gary Wang and Youku's founder Victor Koo also inked a deal to share selective portions of their video libraries in order to both save on licensing costs and bolster their dominating positions in the market.

Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank are managing Tudou's listing process.

 

Further reading

Temasek, IDG, JAFCO, KTBand, Granite invest $50 million in Tudou.com

• Venture
• 05 Aug 2010

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• Topics
• Media
• Greater China
• Temasek Holdings
• IDG Ventures
• GGV Capital
• JAFCO
• KTB Securities