US-based collaborative workspace provider Evernote has spun out its Chinese unit, Yinxiang Biji, with several hundred million Chinese yuan (RMB100 = $15m), TechCrunch reported yesterday.
The funding was supplied by Sequoia Capital’s CBC Cross-border Digital Industry Fund. Ownership of Yinxiang Biji has been split almost equally between Evernote, Sequoia and the spinout’s management team.
Evernote and Yinxiang Biji have signed an initial two-year deal to cross-license intellectual property and collaborate closely. The deal may be extended in future.
Founded in 2007, Evernote operates an online platform that allows users to take notes, save screenshots and archive documents, and share them with other users for collaborative work.
Evernote set up Yinxiang Biji in 2012 and said Chinese users create some 50% more notes than other customers and the local business has grown by 60% annually.
Evernote itself has raised more than $270m from investors including media company Nikkei, Docomo Capital, the corporate venturing arm of telecoms firm NTT Docomo, M8 Capital, Valiant Capital Partners, T Rowe Price, Meritech Capital, CBC Capital, Sequoia Capital, Harbor Pacific Capital, Morgenthaler Ventures and Allen & Company.