China short-term rental site Xiaozhu raises $65m
Chinese short-term rental site Xiaozhu.com has collected a total of $65 million across two tranches from a group of China-focused VC investors.
The pool of capital includes an extended Series C round completed last year, which was led by Capital Today. Subsequent to that, Joy Capital and Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) co-led a Series D round, with participation from existing backers Morningside Ventures, Capital Today and Magic Stone Alternative Investments.
Xiaozhu was launched in 2012 and operates under a C2C business model similar to that of US-based Airbnb, allowing homeowners to post properties that are available as vacation or business rentals. The company now features listings for 100,000 homes in more than 250 Chinese cities. It is collaborating with Ant Financial, Alibaba Group's online finance affiliate, to accumulate data on customers' credit ratings.
Xiaozhu secured a Series A round from Morningside in 2013, and a $15 million Series B round led by Legend Capital in 2014. Last year, it completed a $60 million Series C round led by Joy Capital. Morningside, CITIC Capital and Magic Stone also took part.
Earlier this year, the company expanded into other verticals also based on the sharing economy concept, including vehicles, food and cleaning services. The new capital will be used to develop the company's brand and improve user experience, CEO Chi Chen told local media.
Last week, Chinese PE-backed vacation rental platform Tujia acquired the homestay businesses of travel websites Ctrip and Qunar, strengthening its already dominant position in China's accommodation sharing market. The deal followed the purchase of smaller industry peer Mayi.com.
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