PE-backed Xiaomi gets 10% of Kingsoft’s cloud computing unit

According to the agreement dated on November 30, Xiaomi will acquire 91 million shares at $0.02 per share.

Xiaomi will mainly focus on developing smart phones, while Kingsoft Cloud Group will provide supporting cloud technology services.

"As the popularity of Xiaomi smart phones has risen significantly over the years and with the high visibility of the Xiaomi brand among smartphone users in the PRC, the Board is of the opinion that partnering with Xiaomi, both as a business partner and strategic investor, would greatly benefit the Company and help promote the Company's cloud storage services," Lei Jun, chairman of the Hong Kong-listed Kingsoft Corporation said.

Jun is also the founder of Xiaomi. In 2009, the industry veteran spent 12 hours explaining his concept for a high quality but marketing-lite smart phone brand to Richard Liu, managing director at Morningside Technologies. Subsequently, Morningside and Qiming Venture Partners provided $10 million in seed funding in Xiaomi alongside the founders. They were joined by IDG Capital Partners in the $41 million Series A round in December 2010.

A Series B round worth $92 million came one year later, with Beijing Shunwei Venture Capital - an investment firm backed by Jun - Qualcomm Ventures and Temasek Holdings joining the existing investors. In June 2012, Yuri Milner of DST Advisors led a $216 million third round of funding in June - valuing the company at $4 billion - with Government of Singapore Investment Corp. (GIC) also involved.

 

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• China
• TMT
• Qiming Venture Partners
• Morningside Technologies
• Venture