Kunlun Trust, a subsidiary of oil and gas provider PetroChina, led a RMB300m ($45m) series B round for China-based business and technology media company Jiemian on Saturday.
Jiemian operates a media portal that attracts five million readers each day and 90 million monthly unique users. It styles itself as a tech and business media option for ‘independent thinkers’.
The company plans to invest $15m of the funding to create original video and audio content as part of an expansion drive it hopes will give it double the market share of its nearest competitor. It also aims to employ more journalists than any rival in the business media sector
Jiemian’s initial funding came from cybersecurity technology provider Qihoo 360, smartphone maker Xiaomi, advertising firm Zhuoer Media, investment bank Guotai Junan, securities firm Haitong Securities and Hony Capital, the private equity arm of conglomerate Legend Holdings.
Marketing firm BlueFocus paid RMB35m for a 3.9% stake in Jiemian in July 2015 in a deal that valued the media company at RMB900m, according to SinoCast.