China cinema ticket sales app Wepiao raises $234m
Wepiao, a Chinese mobile app specializing in movie ticket sales, has completed a Series C round of funding worth RMB1.5 billion ($234 million) led by the government-backed Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television Fund.
Other new investors included CITICS Prosperity Fund, a joint venture fund between CITIC Securities and China Jingu International Trust, GGV Capital, China Southern Asset Management, Gopher Asset Management and New Hope Group. Existing backers Tencent Holdings and Wanda Group also participated, the company confirmed to Tencent QQ news.
Wepiao, developed by Beijing Weiying Technology, was founded in May last year. It enables users to buy tickets for cinemas, sports and other events through Tencent's social networking app WeChat or Wepiao's self-developed app. It claims to have formed partnerships with 4,500 movie theaters and 1,200 stadium and exhibition centers.
The company raised $105 million in Series B funding in April from Tencent, Wanda and Beijing Cultural Assets Chinese Film & Television Fund.
In addition to online ticketing sales, the parent company operates a RMB3 billion cultural and entertainment fund through its investment arm Weiying Capital. Weiying Capital also partnered with Noah Wealth Management to launch a media-dedicated fund worth RMB2 billion.
Two vehicels invest along the media value chain from content origination, such as movies and sports, to distribution.
Two months ago, Wanda acquired a 20% stake in Mtime Holdings, a VC-backed online movie ticketing platform. The deal came shortly after the two parties agreed to build merchandising centers in all of Wanda's top theaters.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.