Renren leads $50m round in China online finance site
Chinese social networking site Renren has led a $50 million Series B round for Shenzhen Jinfuzi Network Technology, a Chinese online wealth management platform.
Sequoia Capital also participated in the round, as confirmed by Jinfuzi on its official Weibo microblog. The VC firm provided tens of millions of dollars in a Series A round of funding last year.
Founded in 2012, Jinfuzi serves as an online marketplace connecting investors and financial institutions. It offers financial products, such as mutual funds, securities, trust products, and private equity funds, to over 20 million customers. The company has transacted approximately RMB20 billion ($2 billion) since inception.
US-listed Renren received a going-private offer from its management two weeks ago. Led by founder and CEO Joseph Chen, Renren is trying to revolutionize its business by investing in start-ups far removed from social networking and games. Most of the targets are in the US.
Earlier this year, Chen announced that Renren would invest $500 million in the financial sector, forging a new business model for the company. In April, it led a $70 million round for US mortgage marketplace LendingHome. Stock trading site Motif, real estate crowdfunding platform Fundraise and peer-to-peer lending site Social Finance are among the other US-based start-ups to receive backing from Renren.
In China, Renren led a $40 million Series C round for financial information portal Snowball Finance in last September.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.