China-based wifi service provider Exands raised an undisclosed amount in series B funding yesterday from a consortium featuring internet company Baidu.
The round was led by Hangzhou Evershine Capital and also featured ZEVC Management, a participant in Exands’ undisclosed series A round.
Founded in 2010, Exands operates a wifi service platform businesses can use to offer internet access to their consumers in-store. Users authenticate and access the wireless networks through text messages.
Exands’ clients include President Coffee, which operates local Starbucks coffee shops, shopping mall owner Wanda Commercial Properties and insurance provider China Pacific Insurance.
The company will use the cash to attract additional clients and plans to ink strategic partnerships with overseas partners. Exands will also focus on the further integration of third-party cloud computing products in its platform.
Guoming Lu, founder and chief executive of Exands, said: “Exands gets paid by its customers from day one, usually leading consumer brands which care about the quality of wifi and consumers’ in-store experience.
“Exands has contracts with hundreds of brands while thousands of wifi providers overwhelmingly compete on providing free wifi services to business customers. Over one-fifth of the Chinese population uses our wifi service via Exands’ network.”