Tencent Leads $35 Million Series C Funding in US Web Creation Platform Weebly
Weebly, an US website-building service, announced that it has secured $35 million of Series C funding from Chinese Internet giant Tencent and existing investor Sequoia Capital at a market valuation of $455 million. The funds will be used to expand into new markets and increase investment in R&D, according to the company.
Weebly, a 8-year-old startup founded by three Penn State students, helps customers, especially small businesses, to build professional-looking websites with drag-and-drop tools, where no coding and technical skills are required. Weebly claimed to hosts more than 20 million sites that are seen by 175 million visitors every month.
Amid the shopping spree of Chinese Internet juggernauts, Tencent has invested $2 billion in overseas markets during the first ten months of 2013 and a large part of which went to startups.
中国の大手インターネット企業juggernautsによる買い漁りが続く中、Tencentは2013年の最初の10か月間で海外市場に向けて20億米ドルもの投資を行っており、うち大部分はスタートアップに対する投資であった。
中国インターネットの巨大業界で派手な購買活動の渦中にあるTencentは2013年の最初の10か月で20億ドルを国外市場に投資してきた。その大半はスタートアップ向けであった。
Tencent, which has an office in the U.S. to oversee potential acquisition or investment targets, is expanding its portfolio of fast-growing U.S. startups. The startups it has invested in include, mobile-messaging app Snapchat, e-commerce site Fab, mobile game maker Plain Vanilla, mobile gameplay recording service Kamcord, and game developer Activision Blizzard.
