In the run-up to Alibaba’s earth-shaking IPO, the ecommerce titan was all but silent during its customary “quiet period.” But 2014 as a whole has been a busy year for the firm. Alibaba has invested in or bought outright multiple companies both at home and abroad, spending so much money that some have referred to the first nine months as Alibaba’s “bachelor party.” While things simmered down after the IPO, Alibaba didn’t get complacent.
Note that Alibaba tends not to reveal the amount of funding, so many of the investment sums remain undisclosed. Here’s our full list of Alibaba’s investments and acquisitions so far this year, according to ITJuzi’s database and our own archives:
FirstDibs
The coincidentally-named FirstDibs was the first investment announced by Alibaba this year. In January, the New York-based American retailer for fancy interior design, decoration, and fashion secured a US$15 million series C round of funding from Alibaba. One-third of FirstDibs’ business is outside of the United States, and Alibaba hopes to use it to better serve China’s fast-growing consumer market for luxury goods.
TutorGroup
This multinational online education company with an emphasis on language learning picked up US$100 million from Alibaba, Temasek Holdings, and Qiming Venture Partners in February. TutorGroup hosts more than 10,000 hours of course content and operates across more than 40 countries across its platforms: TutorABC, TutorABCJr, and TutorMing. The company is using the money to build its brand in Asia.
Yinman
Yinman is a high-end online clothing retailer that sells its own branded apparel. The company received an undisclosed investment in February from IDG Capital and Alibaba.
ChinaVision
Alibaba splurged a massive US$804 million in March for its majority stake in Hong Kong-based ChinaVision.
The company produces several popular Chinese-language TV shows and movies, along with some print media, mobile media, and mobile gaming operations. Some of its more famous productions include Let the Bullets Fly, Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, and Kung Fu Hustle. Alibaba has made several moves into the TV and movie business this year as it competes with other Chinese web giants to get original content.
ByeCity
ByeCity is a travel service specializing in getting visas for Chinese nationals who want to make overseas trips. The company received a US$20 million series B round led by Alibaba and CBC Capital in March. The company boosts Alibaba’s growing travel offerings. Many local and national travel firms in China have already set up shop on Taobao and Tmall, Alibaba’s two main estores.
Tango
Alibaba led a US$280 million investment into US-based messaging app Tango in March, but the strategy here is still an enigma. Alibaba might be using Tango as a platform on which to experiment with mobile commerce abroad. Or it might be a way to beef up its own struggling chat app, Laiwang. Tango, at last count, had over 200 million registered users and 70 million monthly active users.
InTime Retail
Brick-and-mortar retail company InTime Retail snatched a sizable US$692 million investment from Alibaba at the end of March.
InTime operates 28 department stores and eight shopping malls in China. The deal allows users of Alibaba’s Alipay ewallet to make in-store payments from their smartphones. Alibaba’s initial 9.9 percent equity mixed with the remaining bonds will eventually be converted into a 25 percent stake in InTime.
Lyft
Alibaba participated in Lyft’s US$250 million series D round near the beginning of April. The California-based Uber rival plans on using the money to go beyond the US, although it hasn’t explicitly said where. It’s unclear what Alibaba’s strategy is here. It could be an elaborate logistics play, or it could be laying the groundwork for another of its portfolio companies, taxi hailing app Kuaidi Dache, to expand internationally.
Wasu Media
This US$1.05 billion investment mostly came from Jack Ma and a handful of other investors, not from Alibaba. But Wasu has been Alibaba’s content partner ever since the two companies joined hands to release a set-top box. Another media play, Wasu helps Alibaba get its hands on more original content in the online video race. This investment in early April cemented that partnership. Wasu content can also be found online and on several smart TV models.
Youku
Alibaba continued its video rampage by ploughing US$1.22 billion into video portal Youku Tudou (NYSE:YOKU), backed by Jack Ma’s Yunfeng Capital. Youku is China’s top video streaming site.
The two companies are collaborating to share each others’ user data to better target customers. Alibaba and Youku are working on a service to allow individual shops on Taobao and Tmall to place advertisements on Youku videos.
Kuaidi Dache
Alibaba invested in China’s number two taxi hailing app twice this year: a series B in April and a series C in October. Chinese car rental agency eHi pitched in US$25 million on the latter. Neither round was disclosed, but if they’re anything near the level of Kuadi’s biggest Tencent-backed competitor, Didi Dache, you can bet they’re big.
Vmovier
This micro-film sharing site secured an undisclosed series A round from Alibaba in April. Vmovier offers short films from both China and overseas. It also publishes behind-the-scenes video and industry news.
CFly
CFly was acquired by Alibaba for an undisclosed sum in May. The site is for plane ticket inquiries and reservations. The site is still operating independently today.
Alibaba files for US IPO
Alibaba officially filed with the SEC for its initial public offering on May 7. It hits the New York Stock Exchange on September 19.
China Smart Logistics
Alibaba’s string of partnerships with several of China’s major delivery and logistics firms happened over a long period of time, but it announced the creation of China Smart Logistics around May last year. One year later, Alibaba contributed US$269 million to the joint venture, of which it owns 48 percent, according to The New York Times.
Forbes says Alibaba has over 14 key logistics partners that deliver billions of packages on its behalf every year. One of them includes state-owned China Post. Alibaba aims to make nationwide 24-hour delivery a reality in the coming years.
In December of last year, Alibaba invested US$364 million into Chinese electronic appliance maker Haier to take advantage of its widespread warehouse and logistics network.
SingPost
The late May US$250 million investment into Singapore’s national postal service caught many off guard. Alibaba and SingPost also signed a deal that will allow them to form a joint venture in the future. Alibaba’s aim is to widen its logistics chain into Southeast Asia.
Alibaba previously launched a localized version of Taobao that removed language and shipping barriers between Chinese merchants and Singaporean customers.
Meituan
Alibaba participated in Meituan‘s US$300 million series C round along with Sequoia Capital in May. One of China’s biggest daily deals sites, it is rumored to have scrounged up another US$700 million in December, according to ITJuzi. That would mean the site raised a total of US$1 billion this year, if true.
Alibaba also operates another one of China’s biggest daily deals sites, Juhuasuan.
Guangzhou Evergrande
Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, China
Alibaba paid US$192 million for its 50 percent stake in the Guangzhou-based soccer team. The other half is owned by Chinese real estate company Evergrande, hence the team’s name.
The team is one of the most successful in China’s nationwide soccer scene. The terms of the deal were discussed over drinks between Jack Ma and Evergrande’s Hui Ka Yan and confirmed during a 15-minute phone call shortly thereafter.
KXTX
KXTX is a supply chain management company and logistics company focused on road transportation. It runs logistic centers in 11 cities and has over 1,000 small and medium-sized businesses integrated into its platform. Alibaba invested an undisclosed amount into the firm in May alongside Alibaba-backed Cainiao Network Technology.
UCWeb
Although the exact sum is made of both cash and shares and cannot yet be precisely determined, UCWeb and Alibaba claimed to have completed China’s biggest ever internet acquisition in June.
Alibaba bought the remaining third of UCWeb that it did not already own, and that “biggest ever” statement refers to the company as a whole, surpassing Baidu’s acquisition of 91 Wireless. Just before the acquisition, the companies released a new search engine optimized for mobile.
UCWeb’s flagship product, UC Browser, is one of the few Chinese internet companies to see widespread international success with over 500 million quarterly active users. It’s the most popular mobile browser in India and has strong user bases in Vietnam, Indonesia, Russia, and the US.
Huxiu
Huxiu is a business and technology news portal that received an undisclosed seven-figure RMB amount from Alibaba in June. The startup launched an English version of its website this year, but the large majority of its content is still in Chinese. Note that this investment was discovered through registration documents leaked by a third party, and has not been confirmed by either Alibaba nor Huxiu.
Super
Super is a social app that connects university students studying the same curriculum. The startup raised an undisclosed six-figure dollar round in June from Alibaba, Sequoia, and Ceyuan.
Bale
Bale is a Chinese film distributor and marketing company. It also runs a screenwriters’ and artists’ talent marketplace and a video app. Alibaba invested a RMB 100 million (US$16 million) series B round into Bale in August.
WiTown
WiTown is a wifi marketing system consisting of hardware and accompanying software. The company’s enterprise routers provide public wifi and push advertisements to users. Alibaba invested an undisclosed seven-figure RMB round in the startup in August.
The business model is similar to rival WiWide, which Tencent backed in December.
Autonavi
Alibaba already bought a 28 percent stake in Autonavi last year, but decided to buy it outright in July for US$294 million.
Autonavi is China’s fourth most popular mapping service and is the official Apple Maps source there. Autonavi and Alibaba will have to combat front runner Baidu Maps and fellow contender Tencent Maps if it wants to make a serious dent in the navigation sector.
Kabam
American game developer Kabam soaked up US$120 million from Alibaba at the end of July. The deal involves Alibaba distributing Kabam’s online and mobile games in China via Taobao and Laiwang, although Alibaba’s gaming presence in the country is nearly nonexistent compared to rival Tencent.
Kabam will launch 10 games through Alibaba over the next three years. It already has over 35 titles with players in more than 150 countries.
Alibaba IPO
The big day comes. Alibaba set a world record IPO raising US$25 billion.
MomentCam
MomentCam, a photo app that transforms people into comic book characters, snapped up an undisclosed series A round of funding led by Alibaba in September, shortly after the IPO. Momentcam claims to have 160 million users, of whom 60 percent live outside mainland China. Alibaba will help monetize the app.
Peel
US-based startup Peel secured US$50 million for its mobile TV app. Peel lets uers control their TVs, DVRs, and satellite dishes through the app, with recommendations, reviews, and other social features built in.
No plans to integrate Peel into Alibaba’s ecommerce or media ecosystems were announced. This was Alibaba’s second time investing in Peel following its US$5 million contribution to a US$20 million round in 2013.
LiuLiu
This social network for pets picked up an undisclosed six-figure dollar sum led by Alibaba in October. Besides making a profile for a cat or dog, pet owners can also find people to walk dogs with, discuss breeding, learn about adoption services, and search for foster care. Liuliu was one of the first companies to integrate Taobao shopping into its app as part of Alibaba’s Baichuan program. Alibaba invested an undisclosed series A round in October.
Huayi Brothers
This is one of very few companies in which both Tencent and Alibaba participated in the same round of funding. The Beijing-based TV and movie production studio raised RMB 3.6 billion (US$581 million) from the two internet giants and one other Chinese fund. Alibaba and Tencent are engaged in a land grab for licensed video content, both in China and overseas.
Momo
Momo’s rebranding from sleazy hookup app to interest-based social network might be one of the greatest feats of marketing since Old Spice became cool, but it didn’t come cheap. Not only did Momo raise US$216 million in a US IPO in December, Alibaba and 58.com chipped in US$60 million in a pre-IPO round the month prior. In April, it raised US$187 million from Yunfeng Fund, Sequoia Capital, and Tiger Asia.
V-Key
Singapore-based V-Key received its US$12 million series B round from Ant Financial Capital, Alibaba epayment affiliate company Alipay, and existing investor IPV Capital. V-Key’s security technology will be used to protect Alipay’s services.
KTplay
Alibaba teamed up with Yodo1, a Chinese mobile game publishing startup, to invest an undisclosed amount into mobile gaming platform KTPlay. Now in beta and only available in China, the social gaming network aims to turn single-player games into a social experiences.
Do Bi
This unique mobile game incorporates contemporary artwork into a photo editing app. Users can imprint their faces onto the artwork, and friends can join in to collaborate on the fun. The quirky app secured an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Alibaba in December.
See: WeChat’s growing empire: Here’s everything Tencent invested in or acquired in 2014
This post Jack Ma’s shopping spree: Here’s everything Alibaba invested in or acquired in 2014 appeared first on Tech in Asia.
Jack Ma’s shopping spree: Here’s everything Alibaba invested in or acquired in 2014
No comments:
Post a Comment