AVCJ

Chinese radio mobile app raises $20m Series C round

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Lizhi.FM, a Chinese radio broadcasting mobile app, has raised $20 million in a Series C round of funding from Chinese smart phone manufacturer Xiaomi and Shunwei Capital Partners.

Existing investors Matrix Partners and Morningside Technologies also participated.

Lizhi.FM is a user-generated content (UGC) platform that allows users to set up channels and broadcast their own programs through mobile apps. The platform has attracted more than 20 million registered users and about 600,000 podcast programs.

Yilong Lai, CEO of Lizhi.FM, told local media that its music content will be integrated with MIUI, Xiaomi's Android-based operating system, and also feature in other Xiaomi devices.

The smart phone manufacturer plans to invest $1 billion in digital content, with online video as a particular target. This would a commercial ecosystem that currently includes hardware and operating system software.

In November, Xiaomi and Shunwei - a VC firm set up by Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun - invested $300 million in iQiyi, a video platform owned by Baidu. The phone maker also committed $10 million in online video platform Youku Tudou.

AVCJ Research records show that Lizhi.FM received Series A funding from Matrix in 2010, while Morningside led a $10 million Series B round in 2011.

Last month, Xiaomi announced a new funding round of $1.1 billion. This valued the four-year-old company at $45 billion, making it the world's most valuable VC-backed start-up.

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