Don’t miss these headlines: sports and fitness app lands USD 15 million; internet security giant Qihoo 360 accelerates USD 9 billion buyout offer; and P2P car rental platform receives USD 47M.
Chinese sports and fitness app lands series B funding of USD 15 million
Quanchengrelian(QCRL), a sports and fitness app, has completed a series B funding of RMB 100 million (USD 15.6 million), according to Matrix Partners Beijing Investment and Management Co Ltd.
This round of funding was led by Legend Capital. Matrix Partners was also in, having been at the helm for QCRL’s series A funding.
Funds are slated to be used for recruitment, expansion to more cities and new product development.
The QCRL app gathers offline fitness center data using the internet and is the fitness app with the most paying users and cooperating gyms, Matrix Partners Beijing said.
Beijing-based Heguang Tongchen Technology Co Ltd, founded in August 2014, is the company behind the QCRL app, having released QCRL to the public back in March of this year. Si Wei, founder and CEO of the company graduated from Cornell University in the United States.
Chinese internet security giant Qihoo 360 accelerates USD 9 billion buyout offer
Qihoo 360 Technology Co. Ltd., China’s largest internet security service provider listed in the U.S., will delist from the New York Stock Exchange via a buyout deal at a market value of USD 9 billion in the coming weeks.
Qihoo 360 is close to reaching a deal with an investment group led by Qihoo Chairman Hongyi Zhou, the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg reported early this week. In June, the group made a preliminary offer to buy the Chinese Internet-security company.
If successful, this would be the biggest management buyout of a US-listed Chinese company, reported Bloomberg. Qihoo 360 is planning to go public in China immediately after the buyout.
China’s social running app completes USD 18 million in a B-series financing
JOYRUN, a social app centered around running announced it completed USD 18 million in a B-series financing on Tuesday, Tecent news portal reports.
The company Yuepao Information Technology Co Ltd, founded in 2013, is headquartered in Gaungzhou. Its product JOYRUN is an app that combines running and socializing. It aims to construct a running community by providing services like: searching for running pals, forming runner groups, and sharing running records. According to company data, 15 million users have registered on the platform as of November.
Liang Feng, CEO of JOYRUN says this round of fundraising will be used to advance technological innovation, product functions and group services for runners. JOYRUN claims more than nine thousand runner groups exist on JOYRUN.
Leading delivery firm STO Express to go public in USD 2.6B with a ‘backdoor’ listing deal
STO Express, China’s leading delivery firm, has expedited its process of going public by planning to close a backdoor listing deal with Zhejiang IDC Company at USD 2.6 billion (RMB 16.9 billion), Reuters reported.
Zhejiang IDC Fluid Control Co. Ltd. announced on Dec. 1 that it would sell all of its debt and assets to acquire STO Express. After this major asset restructuring, Chen Dejun, Chairman of STO Express and his sister Chen Xiaoying will become the actual controlling shareholders.
Founded in 1993, STO Express is headquartered in Shanghai. It now has more than 200,000 employees spread over 1,370 branches throughout the country. It witnessed a 50% increase in express delivery services last year, with 2.4 billion packages sent, accounting for 17% of the total express delivery market.
If this works, STO Express will become China’s first major express parcel service to be publicly listed.
ELV dismantling company gets USD 7.8 million in pre-A series funding
On Nov. 23, APARTSMAN, an ELV (end-of-life vehicle) dismantling and processing company, received RMB 50 million (USD 7.8 million) in a round of pre-A series funding from Jiangsu Chenlong Group, boosting its valuation to USD 39 million.
APARTSMAN, based in Beijing, has branches in places like Hong Kong, Guangzhou, America and Japan. APARTSMAN’s main businesses include intelligent vehicle dismantling by experienced overseas technicians and selling dismantled parts to developing countries through its e-commerce platform.
Zhu Jiangang, CEO of APARTSMAN, said the market for dismantled vehicle parts in China is expecting a surge in the near future, up to RMB 600 billion. Dismantled parts and second-hand parts are the future of China’s auto parts in the after-sales market, according to Zhu.
Chinese P2P car rental platform receives USD 47M in B-series funding
P2P car rental website Atzuche.com based Shanghai has raised RMB 300 million (USD 46.9 million) in series B funding from China Pacific Insurance Group, Hearst Ventures, Ivy Capital, Matrix Partners China and Ce Yuan Ventures.
Atzuche.com Chairman, Zhang Wenjian, told Tencent news portal on Monday that not only did China Pacific Insurance Group invest in the startup, the insurance company has also provided RMB 2.05 million in liability insurance. China Pacific Insurance Group encourages car owners to register insurance with Atuzche.com’s platform.
Atzuche.com was founded in May 2014 and now has 100,000 cars registered with the platform and over 10,000 types of car to choose from. One million users have registered with the platform, according to Zhang. The company’s service covers more than 12 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen.
(With contribution from Wendy Tang)
