Baidu YouA Spins Off, Receives Eight-Figure USD Funding
DoNews, 11/30/11
Chinese internet company Baidu's (Nasdaq: BIDU) B2C and C2C e-commerce platform YouA announced Wednesday that it has registered as an independent company and received eight-figure USD funding from IDG-Accel and Qiming Venture Partners.
An executive team has already been selected for the new company and includes Cai Hu, general manager of Baidu's e-commerce division, who will serve as CEO. A core operations team is still being assembled.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Rumor: Baidu to Spin Off YouA," MD 7/21/11 issue. Baidu has historically struggled to drive internal development of non-core businesses, prompting the company to shift to a strategy of developing new, non-core businesses through joint venturing, acquisition, or strategic investment in external firms. With Lekutian, Baidu's B2C e-commerce joint venture with Japanese e-commerce firm Rakuten, reportedly performing poorly, a spin-off of YouA would give Baidu a new vehicle for its e-commerce ambitions that is consistent with its external development strategy.
Keywords: HR Cai Hu e-commerce Internet funding YouA B2C Baidu C2C IDG Qiming BIDU
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