KKR's China digital marketing platform gets expansion round
Cue, a China-focused digital marketing platform created last year by KKR, has raised its first round of expansion funding led by Anchor Equity Partners.
KKR re-upped, while Princeville Global – a growth-stage technology fund launched by Princeville Capital, an investment firm with bases in Hong Kong, San Francisco and Amsterdam – came in as a new investor. Anchor describes itself as an Asia-focused GP but it was established by members of Goldman Sachs’ Korea principal investment team and most of its deals involve Korean assets.
Neither the size of this investment nor KKR’s initial commitment to the business have been disclosed. The private equity firm is participating through its third Asian fund, which closed at $9.3 billion in 2017.
Cue is essentially a roll-up, intended to provide a one-stop service covering everything from advertising to analytics, while leveraging scale, pooled technological resources and integrated capabilities. It is positioned as a solution for a digital marketing industry that is fragmented and said to be failing to keep pace with changing consumer habits. The latest funding will go towards acquisitions as well as improvements to products and services.
The company comprises four core assets: Qi-xin, a digital ad agency that focuses on services such as search engine and social media optimization; AnG, a digital marketing company specializing in big data analytics; Win, a brand management and public relations business; and Wina Tech, a wi-fi traffic operator that provides data collection and big data analytics services.
“We are excited to further invest in new technologies and a broader range of media to provide more professional, high-quality solutions to clients. This capital further helps us solidify our market-leading position at a time when brands are seeking creative digital solutions and data strategies to differentiate themselves and better communicate with their customers,” Sky Shi, CEO of Cue, said in a statement.
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