Bytedance Invests $182 Million in Sports Community Platform
On June 6, sports community platform Hupu officially confirmed that it obtained 1.26 billion yuan ($182 million) from Bytedance in the pre-IPO round. This gives Bytedance a 30% stake in Hupu.
Although Bytedance isn’t Hupu’s largest shareholder, the investment could facilitate the growth of sports-related content on Bytedance’s products such as Jinri Toutiao, Douyin, and Xigua Video.
SEE ALSO: Ep. 28: The World’s Most Valuable Startup: Bytedance, Maker of Tik Tok & Toutiao
In March of this year, Hupu registered the IPO counseling and filing work at the China Securities Regulatory Commission, which means restarting the listing.
Hupu officials also confirmed that Hupu’s capital strategy for seeking an independent IPO has been supported by Bytedance and other shareholders.
Hupu was founded in 2004. The Internet company, which started out in the basketball community, has grown and developed over the past few years. Their current business includes sports-related content, marketing and e-commerce. The cumulative number of registered users on the Hupu platform exceeds 30 million.
However, this is not the first time Bytedance and Hupu have collaborated. After Bytedance became an official global partner of the NBA, Hupu started using Bytedance’s Xigua Video as their default video platform.
With Bytedance as the cornerstone investor, more investors are likely to be interested in getting involved and help Hupu to launch the IPO sprint again.
