Baidu announced on Wednesday that it raised RMB one billion (USD 155 million) for its video business subsidiary to run independently. The new company will focus on Professionally Generated Content (PGC) development by investing RMB five billion to that end.
The investment will be used to assist in the production of high-quality PGC, enlarge the influence of PGC developers, tap users’ needs for PGC products, and facilitate the growth of a PGC-based business model in terms of marketing and commercialization.
Up until now, Baidu’s video platform has collected more than 580 million videos and has over 300 million users, involving thousands of PGC production agencies. With a large user base and personalized recommendation technology, the value of PGC and PGC developers is expected to be maximized on the platform.
Now independent, the PGC-focused subsidiary will be comprised of iQIYI, the Baidu-backed online video streaming service, and Nuomi, Baidu’s group-buying service that has a hand in offline entertainment.
Before this latest move in Baidu’s “aircraft carrier plan”, a plan aiming to develop Baidu’s content ecosystem by opening a series of assets up to investment, the company’s other subsidiaries completed fundraising independently including its food delivery service Baidu Waimai, the platform that helps students with their studies, Zuoyebang, and Baidu Literature.
(Top photo from tech.qq.com)