China’s Sina invests $30m in fintech firm Shuhe Technology
Shanghai-based fintech firm Shuhe Technology has secured a $30 million Series B funding from local Internet major Sina, per a company announcement.
Sina said that it decided to invest in the fintech firm after witnessing healthy growth in the market for such services and the solid business capabilities and steady development potential of Shuhe.
The duo will collaborate in the areas of data, traffic, technology and products in the future, Shuhe said. “This financing will significantly promote the development of Shuhe Technology in the local fintech market, enhance the operational efficiency of data and technology within the company, and improve the services for our credit card holders. We will jointly establish an expandable cooperation model to provide users with appropriate, convenient and efficient inclusive financial services under prudent risk control,” said Shuhe CEO Xu Zhigang.
Founded in August 2015, Shuhe has more than 25 million registered users and recorded over 6.6 million transactions. The firm is a unit under outdoor advertising network Focus Media. It also counts Sequoia Capital as an shareholder, according to its website.
Sina, which operating China’s most popular social media platform Weibo, recorded a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue in the third quarter of 2018, reaching $554.6 million. By September 2018, the number of monthly active users on Weibo jumped by about 70 million users from the same period of 2017 to 446 million, 93 per cent of whom were on mobile.