Holaverse, a Shanghai-based mobile app provider, received USD 70 million in a new round of funding recently.
“The funding will be used to develop new products and expand our overseas markets,” Wang Yizhou, spokesman for Holaverse, told AllChinaTech on Tuesday.
“Compared with the Chinese domestic market, the overseas market is far more complex,” said Wang. “The greatest challenge faced by Holaverse is establishing a good understanding of the overseas market.”
He added that Chinese enterprises that plan to enter overseas markets should adhere to the guidelines of differentiation. Only by developing new products based on the specific needs of users can an enterprise achieve success in overseas markets.
According to Wang, the major markets of Holaverse include China, America, India and Russia, with more than 460 million downloads as of the end of 2015. The company’s user-numbers have drawn the attention of industry giants like Google and Facebook.
Wang said that paying close attention to user-needs has helped Holaverse make an impact in its overseas markets. “We attach great importance to user-feedback. It provides the basis for our product-development.”
Talking about future plans, Wang said Holaverse launched a game platform named Holaverse Games on Google Play at the end of 2015. Holaverse will launch new products on the iPhone Operating System (iOS) in the first half of this year and promote the construction of a social media platform in the future. The vision of Holaverse is to build a global mobile Internet ecosystem.
Founded in December 2010, Holaverse is a fast-growing mobile Internet technology company with a global outlook. The main products of the company include Hola Launcher, a mobile desktop that enables users to personalize their Android system; Omni Swipe, a product that allows convenient access to a user’s favorite apps, contacts, settings and incoming notifications using just one hand; and Locker Master, an Android custom lock screen editor. According to App Annie, Holaverse ranked among the top 10 mobile app developers on Google Play in 2015.
Chinese mobile app developers have their eyes on the global market. Besides Holaverse, Cheetah Mobile listed on the New York Stock Exchange in April 2014 and had more than 568 million monthly active users as of November 2015. APUS Group, a unicorn with over USD one billion in valuation and 600 million downloads across the world, is also a competitor.
（Top photo provided by Holaverse)