INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Editor note: This post originally appeared on TechNode, an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China.
Maimai, China biggest rival to
LinkedIn, has revealed today that it received a $200 million D Series investment back in April in what the company claims to be the largest
investment in the professional networking market
That surprising but correct: LinkedIn went public in 2011 and was bought byMicrosoft for $26 million in 2016, but it raised just over $150
million from investors as a private company.
Global venture capital DST led the round for Maimai which include participation from existing
investors of IDG, Morningside Venture Capital, and DCM.
The new capitaltakes Maimai to $300 million raised from investors, according to
Crunchbase.Caixin reports that the valuation of the company is more than $1 billion which would see the firm enter the global unicorn
club.
Beyond the fundraising, the firm said it plans to invest RMB 1 billion (around $150 million) over the next three years in a career
planning program that it launched in partnership with over 1,000 companies
Those partners include global top-500 firm Cisco and Chinese companies such as Fashion Group and Focus Media.
This investment could be the
last time Maimai taps the private market for cash
That because the company is gearing up for a United States IPO and overseas expansion in the second half of 2019, according to the company
founder and CEO Lin Fan.
Launched in the fall of 2013, Maimai aims particularly at business people as a platform to connect professional
workers and offer employment opportunities
The service now claims over 50 million users
As a Chinese counterpart of LinkedIn, Maimai hascompeted head-on with Chinese arm of the United States professional networking giant since
its establishment and gradually gained an upper hand with features tailored to local tastes.
It can be hard to gauge the population of
social networks, butChinese market research firm iResearch ranked Maimai ahead of LinkedIn for the first time in the rankings of China most
popular social networking apps in April last year
The firm further gained ground this year as its user penetration rate reaching 83.8 percent in June, far higher than LinkedIn China 11.8
percent, according to data from research institute Analysys.
As a China-born company, Maimai gained momentum over the past two years with
localized features, such as anonymous chat, mobile-first design, real-name registration, andpartnerships with Chinese corporations
But like all Chinese tech services, it is subject to the state tight online regulation
The government watchdog has ordered Maimai to remove the anonymous posting section on its platform last month
The same issue applies to LinkedIn, which has been criticized for allowing its Chinese censorship to spill over and impact global
users.
With assistance from Jon Russell
