Leading Chinese Online Secondhand Real Estate Marketplace Closes Series C Round
SHANGHAI and BEIJING, March 8, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Anjuke, China's leading real estate marketplace, today announced that it has completed a new round of financing of US$50 million led by Baidu, Inc. ("Baidu") (Nasdaq: BIDU), the leading Chinese language Internet search provider.
Anjuke was founded in Shanghai in 2007 to provide a more efficient and user-friendly experience for buyers, homeowners, and real estate agents to buy and sell secondhand properties online. Today, Anjuke has 10 million unique visitors per month and via www.anjuke.com is China's most popular online marketplace for secondhand residential properties. In 2010, Anjuke also launched www.haozu.com and www.aifang.com to focus on property rental and new property sales, respectively.
Mike Liang, founder, CEO and Chairman of Anjuke, said, "This financing bolsters Anjuke's position as the leading platform for property transactions in China and deepens our relationship with Baidu. We will continue to focus on providing the best user experience for buying, selling, and renting properties online."
"Anjuke has been an important partner of Baidu and we have a lot of respect for what Mike Liang and his team have accomplished in three short years," said Hesong Tang, General Manager of Corporate Development at Baidu. "We are pleased to invest in Anjuke and deepen our involvement in the real estate vertical."
Bo Y. Shao, co-founder of Matrix China and vice chairman of Anjuke, said, "We are honored to have been an early supporter of Anjuke and Mike. This new investment will enable Anjuke to increase its lead and continue its profitable growth."
Anjuke plans to use the proceeds to invest in geographic expansion and in research and development. China Renaissance acted as exclusive financial advisor to Anjuke in the transaction.
About Anjuke
Anjuke is a leading online platform in China for buying, selling, and renting properties. Anjuke was founded by Mike Liang and Evans Jia in 2007, and operates www.anjuke.com, www.haozu.com, and www.aifang.com for second property sales, rental, and new property sales, respectively. Currently, it has 813 employees in 20 offices, and offers its service in 20 cities.
About Baidu
Baidu, Inc. is the leading Chinese language Internet search provider. As a technology-based media company, Baidu aims to provide the best way for people to find what they're looking for online. In addition to serving Internet search users, Baidu provides an effective platform for businesses to reach potential customers. Baidu's ADSs, each of which represents one Class A ordinary share, currently trade on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "BIDU".
About Matrix Partners China
Affiliated with Matrix Partners, a premier U.S. venture capital firm, Matrix Partners China was founded by David Zhang and Bo Y. Shao in 2008 to focus exclusively on investments in China. The fund invests in TMT and consumer services sectors, and its investments range from US$1 million to US$25 million.
