China AR start-up with celebrity founder raises $55m

GGV Capital and BlueRun Ventures China also took part in the round. 36Kr reported that the company is now valued at CNY 1bn-CNY 1.5bn. A source close to the situation confirmed these details of the transaction to AVCJ.

Thin Red Line positions itself as the AR equivalent of Windows for PCs and Android and iOS for mobile. It has developed operating systems for AR/VR (virtual reality) and plans to produce hardware that runs them.

For the next five years, Thin Red Line will focus on building out its team - the goal is to hire 1,000 engineers - and refining its technology. Hardware products will come later.

The fact that a start-up with no product can command a relatively high valuation is likely because of its founder, Chinese internet celebrity Yonghao Luo (pictured). 

A high-school dropout who dreamed of becoming a poet, Luo had a series of menial jobs through his 20s and then trained as an English teacher. He regularly posted humorous and philosophical comments online, building up a loyal following. He was the most-searched-for term on Baidu in 2005 and 2006.

Luo launched several start-ups before making a breakthrough with smart phone business Smartisan in 2012. The company achieved a valuation of CNY 2bn but its phones didn't sell well. Smartisan was on the brink of collapse when ByteDance acquired it in 2018. 

Luo borrowed CNY 600m to invest in Smartisan, but paid off the debt within three years as a social commerce streamer on Douyin. Earlier this year, aged 50, he announced he would close his social media accounts to focus on what would become Thin Red Line.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Early-stage
• Technology
• China
• GGV Capital
• BlueRun Ventures
• Meituan-Dianping
• AR & VR