SNS Yurong Obtains New Round of Funding
Netease Tech, 8/06/12
Li Yu, CEO of Shanghai-based SNS operator Yurong Network Technology, announced today that the company had received Series A2 funding at the end of May for a total valuation of RMB 200 mln.
Two years ago, Li resigned as CEO of Chinese online game developer and operator Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME) and founded Yurong with an eight-figure angel investment from BlueRun Ventures, later receiving an undisclosed amount of A1 funding from unspecified investors in August 2011. Li declined again to reveal names of investors or details of investment amounts, but said that the company's new round of financing had kicked off in February and wrapped up in May, with some investors from the previous round continuing on. Zhang Ning, chairman of Red Avenue Group, participated in the new round of funding; the Shanghai-based rubber and tire industry supplier is a major client of Yurong's SNS site uTan's Employee Assistance Program.
The new funds raised will be used in the areas of staffing, user development, and partnerships. Yurong currently operates two main service lines: uTan, which focuses on mental and physical health, and uTanBaby.com, which emphasizes mother and baby care. uTan currently has around 6 mln registered users, half of whom are active on a monthly basis, two-thirds of whom are young professionals, two-thirds of whom are female. The company's uTanBaby application for iOS terminals is downloaded more than 10,000 times per day, and has seen download volumes double month-on-month for the past three months. An Android version of the application is forthcoming.
Li said that Yurong had originally planned to show a single-month profit by the end of this year, but that the timetable has been moved up. Yurong employs 40 people at present, all of whom hold stock options.
Editor's Note: For more information on this topic, please see "Rumor: SNS uTan.com Obtains New Funding," MD 8/08/11 and "SNS uTan Outlines Business Development Strategy," MD 2/21/12 issues.
Keywords: Zhang Ning uTanBaby HR Li Yu Internet funding SNS registered users Yurong Utan online childcare
Sending
