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Chinese photo-sharing startup Blink raises US$20M led by Tencent

The Series A round includes investment from Innovation Works and Sequoia Capital

Chinese photo-sharing startup Blink has raised US$20 million in a Tencent-led Series A round that includes investment from Innovation Works and Sequoia Capital.

Blink — founded earlier this year — is being called as China’s answer to SnapChat. Core features of the app include the ability to snap a photo or record a 16-second video, and add some graffiti-style flourishes, text and an audio message. Afterwards, receivers can add their own touches and send it back. Saving the image is optional, though by default it will disappear after a user swipes it away. The app is available in both English and Chinese on Android and iOS, with current estimates putting active users at around 200,000.

SnapChat, meanwhile, has till date raised US$163 million in capital, the latest of which was a Series C round worth US$50 million. It boasts over 100 million active users. Tencent most recently led a US$350 million Series C round in Koudai Gouwu, a Chinese mobile shopping marketplace, on October 23, 2014 with four other investors. It also put up US$100 million of private equity in Guahao, an online medical service provider, on October 13, and US$3.5 million in seed funding for Tile, a valuables location-tracking device and app, on October 1.

Clearly Blink has some way to go to catch up with the likes of SnapChat, but this backing from Tencent could give it the first real shot at doing just that. For now, details on the company remain fairly scant in English-language media, but expect that to change before long.