US backers form big Facebook clone in China
A giant Chinese Facebook copycat has just been formed, in part by U.S venture backers.
Xiaonei.com, the college social networking site that has become one of the biggest players in China, and reminding many of Facebook’s site, has been acquired by Oak Pacific Interactive, which has its own Facebook version, 5Q.
Their goal is to merge to the two Chinese leaders, to create a giant in the market. Notable is that both companies have U.S. backers. Oak Pacific is backed by Silicon Valley venture firm Doll Capital Management, and buyout firm General Atlantic. Xiaonei, which means “on campus,” is backed by angel money in part from an unnamed “ex-CTO of Amazon.com.”
There are several other smaller players in the China market.
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About the Author, Matt Marshall
Matt launched VentureBeat in September of 2006, with the realization that no one else was covering the entrepreneurial and tech innovation scene with the velocity or depth that he was. Prior to founding VentureBeat, he covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News from 2001 to 2006. In 2002, Matt was awarded "Journalist of the Year" by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Prior to working at the Merc, he was a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal in Bonn, Germany from 1995 to 1998, and a writer for the Washington Post in 1994. Matt holds a PhD in Government and an MA in German and European Studies from Georgetown University. In addition to VentureBeat, Matt is also the Executive Producer of DEMO, the leading launchpad event for emerging technologies.
