Weibo Leads Funding of Independent Media Documentary Maker Zuoyou Video
Pencil News, 12/13/17
Beijing-based Zuoyou Travel Network Technology, operator of independent media documentary producer Zuoyou Video, completed RMB 20 mln in strategic funding on December 13, revealed founder Liu Weiyang to Chinese startup news site Pencil News. The funding was led by Chinese microblogging platform Weibo (Nasdaq: WB), a subsidiary of Sina (Nasdaq: SINA), with Heyue Capital participating. The funds will mainly go toward staff expansion and the production of new programs.
Zuoyou Video started out mainly producing short-form documentary videos, with over 100 military history programs, mainly concerned with China's recent historical development. Each program is 3-5 minutes long, and they are mainly distributed via channels such as Zuoyou Video's public account on Tencent's (0700.HK) WeChat mobile messaging app, Sina Weibo's official mobile short video app Miaopai, Today's Headlines, Tencent Video, and Weibo.
This year, Zuoyou Video continued to expand its content offerings with both long and short video formats. The company plans to release two long-form documentaries, "Go Traveling on the Green Train" and "Industry Insider," that will explore the realms of travel and figures in the business world.
Both documentaries are currently in post-production, with run times of 25 minutes and 50 minutes. The projects are expected to be released after China's Lunar New Year holiday period in February and will be published online and broadcast on TV stations.
The Zuoyou Video team has produced 500 episodes of programming to date, accumulated 3 mln online fans, and receives an average of 4 mln playbacks per episode across all online platforms.
Keywords: Zuoyou Travel Zuoyou Video Liu Weiyang M&A VC content production online video funding travel wireless Sina Weibo WB Heyue mobile short video television
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