China’s Airbnb equivalent Tujia receives USD 300M in Series E led by Ctrip
Tujia
Founder: Luo Jun
Founded in: 2011
Financing status: RMB 2 billion (USD 300 million) for Series E financing in 2017
China’s answer to Airbnb, Tujia, received USD 300 million for Series E led by Ctrip on October 9 for global expansions.
Tujia is China’s equivalent to the property-rental site, Airbnb, that provides customers with multiple, high-quality, personalized travel accommodation experiences all over the world. It also offers landlords high income and guarantees spare housing sharing support. Tujia’s services cover family travel, business travel, leisure vacation, party building, and transitional accommodation. Users can enjoy 24/7 hour booking services online on their mobile phone, WeChat, and other platforms. Moreover, it provides tenants with up to RMB 10 million for pre-payment protection funds, to ensure that consumers feel at ease every time.
Founded in 2011, Tujia’s services cover 345 domestic destinations and 2017 destinations overseas. There are more than 600,000 accommodations available for rent on its platform, including hostels, villas, apartments, and so on.
This new financing round was led by Ctrip, China’s leading comprehensive travel service company. The capital will be used to expand its services overseas based on cooperation with Ctrip, Qunar.com and others.
Umbrella sharing startup Usan receives USD 4.5 M for angel round
Usan
Founder: Liu Qing
Founded in: 2017
Financing status: RMB 30 million (USD 4.5 million) for angel financing in 2017
Umbrella sharing startup, Usan, received USD 4.5 million for angel round financing on October 9 to expand its umbrella sharing services to more cities based on a building data model.
Usan is an umbrella sharing startup that provides users with umbrella rental services by placing umbrella rental machines in crowded city centers. Its umbrella rental machines are equipped with large capacity batteries so it doesn’t need to be charged often. Each of its umbrella rental machines accommodates 120 umbrellas, which can be used on sunny and rainy days. Additionally, users can use its umbrellas free of charge for 15 minutes with a RMB 29 deposit for a cost of RMB 1 every 12 hours. Users can rent its umbrellas by scanning the QR code with WeChat or Alipay.
Founded in 2017 in Suzhou, Usan has put more than 100,000 umbrellas for rental in Shanghai, Suzhou, and Nanjing. Meanwhile, it is seeking to cooperate with office buildings to place its umbrella rental machines inside, as well as financial companies to enable users to rent its umbrellas with credit.
This angel financing round was led by a group of investors, including LY.COM, FocusMedia and 9Fbank. The company plans to use the funds to build a data model to support its city expansion plans.
(Top photo from 58pic.com)
