Temasek, Hillhouse lead $150m round for China's Aiwujiwu
Aiwujiwu, a Chinese rental and second-home listings portal, has completed a Series E round of funding worth $150 million round led by Temasek Holdings and Hillhouse Capital.
Existing investors Morningside Venture Capital, Banyan Capital, Shunwei Capital Partners and GGV Capital also participated. It brings the total raised by Aiwujiwu to $350 million since the company was set up in March of last year.
Shanghai-based Aiwujiwu was founded by three former executives from Tudou.com, a Chinese online video platform that merged with industry peer Youku in 2012. The site, iwjw.com, allows home-seekers to find accommodation to rent or buy in top-tier cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Users can book visits with agents through a mobile app. The platform charges a 1% commission for home sales, but its rental services are free.
Morningside provided a Series A round of funding in June last year, while Banyan participated in a Series B round three months later. Last December, Shunwei, Morningside and Banyan provided the Series C round, and this was followed by a $120 million Series D round led by GGV and Morningside.
The company expanded into the secondary housing market after the Series D round. Its team has grown to 16,000 employees in more than 10 cities. They conduct background checks on all projects before posting them online. Aiwujiwu claims to have sold nearly 6,000 apartments through its platform, according to local media.
There have been a number of related investments in China's online property listings market. In March, 58.com, a VC-backed classifieds website, acquired Anjuke, an online real estate listing platform, for about $267 million. The Carlyle Group and IDG Capital Partners have also committed substantial sums to US-listed online real estate platform SouFun Holdings.
Meanwhile, last year Vision Knight Capital led a $80 million Series B round for rival platform Fangdd.com and more recently backed Zhong Ao Home Group, a China-based property manager that wants to raise $59.2 million through a Hong Kong IPO. The company, which has formed partnership with Fangdd, entered the online-to-offline (O2O) space earlier this year, launching the Aidaojia mobile app to provide localized and personalized products and services to residents.
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