SHANGHAI, June 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- ddmap.com, the largest lifestyle information website in China, recently announced it has raised more than US$40 million in a new round of financing led by F&H and joined by CID and Middle East sovereign funds. 90% of the money raised will be used to develop its mobile internet business across forty urban markets, with a focus on promoting ddcoupon, a mobile app owned by ddmap.com.
ddcoupon, a convenient tool for China's busy, on-the-go urban population, is the country's most popular mobile coupon app today. Users are entitled to discounts at designated merchants simply by showing the mobile page displaying the coupon. "ddmap.com has been providing online to offline (O2O) lifestyle services for seven years, since 2005, and has partnered with a large number of lifestyle-focused merchants. The convenience afforded to a participating merchant assures expansion of ddcoupon's merchant network and excellent retention of existing merchant partners, providing a solid foundation for its mobile internet coverage. That's why ddcoupon has seen explosive growth in the past year," said ddmap.com CEO Xu Longjiang.
Commenting on Apple's announcement at WWDC 2012 of the rollout into China's mobile internet market of iOS 6, the new Passbook app and Siri with support for Mandarin Chinese, Xu Longjiang said, "Apple is an undoubted leader in both hardware and software. However, when it comes to China's local offline services, we believe that Apple will inevitably seek data support from a third party that has strong brand recognition, rich offline resources and an expanding list of merchants."
Mobile Internet apps, especially those focused on lifestyle, are booming in China. ddcoupon has the highest degree of similarity to Passbook, when measured by the number of user downloads, coupon data, cities covered and channels. ddcoupon has recorded nearly 10 million downloads and is the largest among its peers in terms of user base; the app offers more than 50,000 coupons in different categories that can be used at a wide variety of merchants offering services covering the gamut from dining, entertainment and leisure to beauty salons and personal care services in nearly 40 first- and second-tier cities in China, with expansions into small and medium-sized cities and regions underway; and ddcoupon pioneered the two-dimensional barcode coupon and the concept of being able to redeem the coupons anytime, anywhere, according to official data. "It is important that we also were able to raise a lot of money," Xu added humorously.
"The most important part of the Internet O2O model lies in the second 'O', namely the network of offline merchants, as they are the base that ensures the perfect offline user experience, an aspect that cannot be achieved by other apps that simply imitate the UI and features of ddcoupon. This is the reason ddcoupon spent 7 years in developing the merchant segment. We look forward to cooperating through various channels including Apple's and providing wider access to information on merchant coupons, as a way of allowing more users to gain access to coupons via a wider array of channels and to enjoy the convenience of local services brought about by the mobile Internet. This is no doubt good news for users," Xu said with confidence.
In January 2012, ddcoupon was among the first localized Windows Phone-based applications endorsed by Microsoft, and was listed in the Marketplace. Windows Phone is the fourth mobile OS platform to be supported by ddcoupon, in addition to iOS, Android and Symbian.
About ddcoupon
ddcoupon is a mobile application integrating all information concerning discounted services available in a city. Launched by China's largest domestic life services information provider and map service website ddmap.com, the application allows China's urbanites to locate and download coupons for immediate use on their cell phones. Users can look around for the most inexpensive yet best-value food, entertainment, shopping and hotel coupons and discounts, based on where they are located at that moment.
About ddmap.com
Founded in May, 2005, ddmap.com is a hi-tech internet company providing urban populations with accurate life information services by integrating its position technology and search functionality. The company has developed proprietary position engines and search technologies, and has a deep understanding of the information category and the way that busy city dwellers on the go prefer to consume information. The ddmap.com mission is to efficiently and effectively deliver the most accurate yet useful life service information to anyone and everyone who has a cellphone.
