Mochou Lee
Micro-video app developer Yixia.com received USD 200 million in D-series funding, boosting its valuation to USD one billion, Sohu news portal reported on Tuesday. Sina Weibo led the funding, followed by Sequoia Capital and the Korean YG Entertainment company.
Yixia developed several micro-video apps. The most popular are MiaoPai, an app for making and sharing ten-second videos, and XiaoKaxiu, a Dubsmash-like app that lets you make videos of yourself dubbed with famous soundbites. Xiaokaxiu now has five million daily active users and daily video uploads on Miaopai has exceeded one million, with 510 million views each day.
Han Kun, CEO and co-founder of the company, said that the money would be used to increase the production of original video content. He said the company will launch a micro-video livecast of on Weibo, China’s largest social media platform. The companies will open their APIs to each other, allowing video-syncing across platforms.
Founded in August 2011, the company received C-series funding from StarVC, a VC startup founded by Chinese celebrities including Li Bingbing and Zhang Ziyi.