Dispatch 1 from Beijing
I’ve just landed in Beijing and I managed to get to a Chinese tech conference called CHINICT in time to hear some interesting local social networking news. 51.com, one of the largest social networks in the country, is closing a $50 million round and plans to launch a platform for third party developers later this summer.
This is notable because 51.com has more than 25 million monthly active users, and more than 100 million total registered users, making it the second largest social network in the country behind Qzone. While I hear that other large Chinese social networks are also looking at launching platforms, 51.com appears to be the first one to discuss its plan publicly. Also, it is separately launching the alpha version of a casual gaming platform in August.
I asked 51.com senior vice president Yonghe Yao if his company was planning on supporting existing open standards provided by Facebook’s platform (which has already been licensed to competitor Bebo), or the rival Open Social standard championed by MySpace and Google. He tells me that his company is evaluating open standards from US companies and hope to incorporate as many standards as possible.
Leading application companies that are already on Facebook and other social networks have been eyeing the Chinese market, as Slide chief executive Max Levchin told me last month. Its not just that Chinese social networks are some of the largest in the world, it’s about revenue.
51.com, for example, made 44 million in revenue last year, 70 percent of which was from virtual goods and other user-related revenue streams; the other 30 percent came from ads. In fact, I hear that the largest Chinese social networks are hesitant to open up too much to third parties because they want to make sure they’re the ones who make money from virtual goods.
Slide — and many other application developers — are also looking at virtual good sales as new ways of making money.
51.com isn’t disclosing further details on its funding at the moment; it has raised previous funding from Sequoia Capital, Redpoint Ventures, Intel Capital, and others. Its rivals have also been busy on the funding front. Most recently, neck-and-neck rival Xiaonei raised a whopping $430 million round.
More info on 51.com. It recently launched an instant message service that 1.5 million users log on to every day. It has grown large in smaller Chinese cities, and 80 percent of its users are between the age of 14 and 25. Users spend an average of 41 minutes on the site and log in 18 times per month.
You might have also noted that many Chinese companies have numbers for names — video site 56.com is another one. The reason is that these names are homonyms in Chinese. 51.com sounds like “I want.” 56.com sounds like “I’m happy.”
I’ll be publishing more news from the conference. For other English-language sources, follow web2asia’s coverage here, the collection of CHINICT Twitter hash tags here and Tangos Chan’s excellent China Web2.0 Review blog.
12:23 am
51.com To Launch Open Platform in June : China Web2.0 Review said:
[...] platform, that’s great news for those third-party developers. And when answering question of Eric Eldon, editor of VentureBeat, Mr. Yao said 51.com is “evaluating open standards from US companies and hope to incorporate [...]
1:34 am
51.com recibe 50 millones said:
[...] red social china 51.com ha recibido 50 millones de dólares y planea lanzar una plataforma para terceros desarrolladores a finales del [...]
7:38 am
51.com Raises $50 Million - Covering All That's Social On the Web said:
[...] night Eric Eldon wrote about 51.com’s new $50 million round of funding. 51.com has 25 million active monthly users and intends to launch a developer platform [...]
2:43 pm
May 22, 2008 | next media update said:
[...] Chinese Social Network 51.com Raises $50 Million to Launch Open Platform VENTUREBEAT Chinese social network 51.com is closing a USD50m funding round and plans to open its platform to developers, reports VentureBeat quoting a 51.com exec. Senior VP Yonghe Yao would not disclose the name of the investors. The new funding adds to USD16m raised in two rounds from investors including Intel Capital Sequoia Capital, Redpoint and SIG. The site is also planning to open its platform to third-party developers later this summer. It is unclear whether 51.com will adopt Facebook’s developer platform or Google-led OpenSocial. Yao simply says the social network will adopt as many standards as possible. The social network is also launching a beta of its casual gaming platform in Aug. Source> [...]
10:23 pm
Chinese local review site Dianping: A lot more than a “Yelp for China” » VentureBeat said:
[...] my earlier dispatches from China: Dispatch 1: 51.com raises $50 million round Dispatch 2: Isaac Mao on tech blogging in China Tags: [...]
12:13 am
What do we know about 51.com’s open API and funding plans? said:
[...] network 51.com, spoke at last week’s ChinICT conference, and his remarks were covered by Eric Eldon at VentureBeat (who was in town for the conference — really great guy!) and by Tangos Chan over at China Web [...]
7:07 am
Inside Facebook » Facebook Platform, 6 waves Making Waves in Hong Kong said:
[...] start to open up their own application platforms - as major Chinese social network 51.com recently announced???????? ????? ???????? - the social networking application economy is heating up in the [...]
7:22 pm
Xiaonei Announces Open API said:
[...] has been reported recently, 51.com — China’s second-largest social network, which appeals [...]
11:01 am
Will Selling Goods be the Answer for Social Networks? said:
[...] which recently raised a $50 million round, earns 70 percent of their revenue through virtual goods according to VentureBeat. Compare that to domestic social networks in which only a small fraction of revenue is generated [...]
10:58 pm
Will Selling Goods be the Answer for Social Networks? | Jacob Madison said:
[...] which recently raised a $50 million round, earns 70 percent of their revenue through virtual goods according to VentureBeat. Compare that to domestic social networks in which only a small fraction of revenue is generated [...]
2:10 pm
Facebook China Launched. Impersonators Beware. said:
[...] 2008. 51.com is another network that boasts a sizable number of members. 25 million, according to VentureBeat. QQ’s Qzone is purportedly even larger. And MySpace is determined to carve its own niche in the [...]
2:58 pm
Facebook China Launched. Impersonators Beware. | World News said:
[...] 2008. 51.com is another network that boasts a sizable number of members. 25 million, according to VentureBeat. QQ’s Qzone is purportedly even larger. And MySpace is determined to carve its own niche in the [...]
2:54 am
Roundup: Google tests a new social network-esque homepage, Apple ups iPhone orders and more » VentureBeat said:
[...] takes stake in Chinese social network 51.com — We noted last month that the site was closing in on $50 million or so in new funding, now we know the backer, thanks to Ogilvy China’s Digital Watch blog. [...]
9:17 am
The Social Times » Giant Interactive Group Buys 25 Percent Stake in 51.com said:
[...] in May. 51.com’s low valuation may be based on their $44 million cash flow which Eric Eldon wrote about back in [...]
6:04 pm
Game maker Giant invests in Chinese social network 51.com » VentureBeat said:
[...] is hardly lying down while more and more social networks eye the growing Chinese market. When I wrote about the company’s $50 million funding in May, it said it is looking at offering a developer platform, as many of its international competitors [...]
7:23 pm
Game maker Giant invests in Chinese social network 51.com | Silk Road To Dragon China said:
[...] isn’t sitting still as more social networks eye the growing Chinese market. When I wrote about the company’s $50 million funding in May, it said it was looking at offering a developer platform, as many of its international competitors [...]
6:57 pm
After nearly six weeks of downtime, popular Chinese video-sharing site 56.com comes back online » VentureBeat said:
[...] the cause was governmental censorship. Now, the site, whose name sounds like the words “I’m happy” in Chinese, is back [...]