Genesis Capital Leads $70M Series D for Tantan

6/25/17

Tantan, China’s biggest dating app, has raised a US$70M Series D funding. This round of investment is led by YY Inc and Genesis Capital, and followed by SAIF and Zhongwei Capital.

The latest round of investment will increase Tantan’s dominance in the playground of social networks for young singles, and will also help bring surprises to the users in terms of the product and services.

Since its launch in 2014, Tantan has been leading all the way and has successfully become the biggest social network for China’s young singles. According to official statistics, Tantan has got 90 million registered users (60 million validated users, leaving out fake and banned accounts), among which “post-90s” take up more than 75%. The DAUs reached 6 million and the second-day return rate is around 75%. Users have made over 3 billion matches in total.

The male/female ratio of Tantan’s users is around 6:4, which is quite unusual for dating apps. Active female users have become Tantan’s core user base.

Tantan boasts its simplicity in use – swipe left or right, and chat only with the ones you like. It also has a back-end system designed to prevent harassment and spams. These features help Tantan rapidly attract a large amount of young people, especially young girls, and become their favorite dating app.

The latest round of investment is significant to the investors as well. This is the largest investment ever for the lead investor YY Inc, and marks the first investment in social networking business for Genesis Capital, whose founders have many years’ experience working for Tencent.

“We have done some in-depth researches on Tantan’s users and gameplay, and we know that its core product design and operating logic conform young people’s mobile usage habits,” said LI Xueling, founder of YY Inc., “I believe Tantan will surpass any last-generation social apps in China, and become the one major social platform for young singles.”

“Great unfulfilled needs lie in the area of social networks connecting strangers,” said PENG Zhijian, founder of Genesis Capital, “We have great confidence in the Tantan team. They have acute insights and understandings about mobile products, young people and social networking. We believe Tantan will continue with the rapid growth and bring us bigger surprises.”

Talking about the next steps, WANG Yu, CEO of Tantan, stated that the company will keep polishing the product for better user experience, and hopefully release VIP membership service in Q3.

WANG said the team now has 10-year experience in the internet industry, which makes them know better about the opportunities and challenges in China, especially China’s social network business. He said that Tantan has built a strong and globalized team, which is also the vital reason why investors are in favor Tantan.

Although Tantan has already become one of the biggest social apps for “post-90s” in China, WANG pledged to continue their journey of discovery. He revealed that Tantan will explore artificial intelligence technology and expand new markets in the future, to help more users enjoy more accurate, personalized and efficient social experience.

Tantan has raised 120M US dollars in total after the latest series D. Investors include Bertelsmann Asia Investments, Vision Capital, DST, DCM, KPCB and LB Investment.

The unique style and well-designed protection system are what make Tantan the most popular social network among Chinese “post-90s” in only 3 years. The latest funding once again proves Tantan’s tremendous business value. The investors all possess strong advantages and resources in different fields. What will happen between these big players and the dark horse of social networks is worth waiting for.

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