Chinese social commerce unicorn Xiaohongshu raises US$300 million from investors led by Alibaba
Xiaohongshu is one of the pioneers of what has been called a social+ business model, where different industries such as education, news and e-commerce are anchored by a social pillar that drives user engagement and growth.
Xiaohongshu, a popular social commerce site in China, raised US$300 million in its Series D round of funding from investors including Alibaba Group, valuing the five-year-old start-up at over US$3 billion.
The mobile app, which means “little red book” in Chinese, operates like a combination of Instagram and Amazon where users share photos and videos, write posts and tag items in their pictures that link to e-commerce listings.
Alibaba led the latest round of investment into the Shanghai-based start-up, which counts GSP Ventures, Tencent Investment, GGV Capital, Genesis Capital, Tiantu Capital, Zhen Fund and K11’s Adrian Cheng among its investors.
The new funds would be “used to support talent acquisition, machine learning infrastructure and user growth,” the company said in a statement Friday.
Xiaohongshu was founded in 2013 and has amassed 100 million users on the platform as of this May. Targeting urban women between 18 and 35 years of age, the app has gained popularity among China’s Generation Z, a young and sophisticated consumer base that has become the most active group on the platform, according to the company.
