Tencent leads $200m round for China’s Qutoutiao
Tencent Holdings has led a Series B round worth more than $200 million for Qutoutiao, a Chinese mobile news reading app. The round gives the company a post-money valuation of $1.6 billion.
Shunwei Capital, Chinese smart phone maker Xiaomi, Advantech Capital, China InnoVision Capital, Shanghai Chuangban Investment Management, and Lighthouse Capital Group also took part.
Qutoutiao, which means “fun headline” in Chinese, was launched in 2016 by several executives from Shanda Games and Baidu. With a focus on entertainment content, it sources content from blogs and media outlets and creates personalized news feeds, targeting third and fourth-tier cities. The company has more than 70 million registered users, including 10 million daily active users.
According to mobile app analysis platform Cheetah Data, Qutoutiao is currently the third most popular new app in China after Tencent News and Toutiao. It has a similar business model to Toutiao, which reportedly raised $2 billion last year at a valuation of more than $20 billion.
Qutoutiao received $42 million in Series A funding late last year, led by Chengwei Capital. CMC Capital Partners and Redpoint China Ventures also took part. The latest round will be used for technology development, brand building, and hiring additional staff. The company will also look to continue improving content and user experience, it said in a statement.
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.