Tencent leads Series C in app for Chinese senior citizens
Tencent Holdings has led a Series C round for China-based Tangdou, a social media platform targeting senior citizens. Other participants include GGV Capital, Shunwei Capital and IDG Capital.
Tangdou was launched in 2015 as a dancing video app for senior citizens. It provides tutorials for a number of dance genres including Chinese folk dance, jazz, ballroom and hip-hop.
It also provides a mini-app on Tencent’s Wechat. Through its main app and the mini-app users can share content on healthcare, entertainment and everyday life. The company claims that over 20,000 customers use its apps every day, with average sessions lasting around 35 minutes.
In addition to its online platforms, the company has also built over 20,000 offline mini sites used for connecting users living in different areas and helping them to organize events. The company claims to have held over 4,000 events and covered over 500,000 users.
Previous investments in Tangdou include a $20 million Series B round in 2016 with participation by Shunwei, Legend Capital, and Redpoint Ventures, as well as a $5 million Series A round in 2015 from Engage Capital. According to the company, the new funding round brings its total capital raised to over $100 million.
Tangdou generates most of its revenues from advertisements and association with brands. It plans to further monetize its relationship with users by offering products sourced from suppliers directly.
“Mothers and senior citizens are becoming the new hot spots in China’s internet scene. The company has successfully expanded its coverage from dancing to other verticals, so we trust it can become the leading social media app for over 400 million Chinese senior citizens going forward,” said Hongwi Li, a partner at GGV.
The consumption market for Chinese senior citizens is projected to reach RMB3.79 trillion by 2020. Chinese senior citizens currently spend most of their expenditure on tourism rather than entertainment or other leisure activities, but industry observers expect this situation to change with a higher penetration of mobile internet and the emergence of players specifically catering to this cohort.
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