Kingsoft Cloud, the cloud storage technology subsidiary of China-based cybersecurity firm Kingsoft, has closed $50m of series C+ financing at a $1.1bn valuation, China Daily reported today.
A fund managed by brokerage firm China Merchants Securities led the tranche, which also included a contribution from Kingsoft itself.
Founded in 2012, Kingsoft Cloud provides cloud computing services to corporate clients, operating data centres in China and North America. It serves around 90% of China’s online game developers and expanded into the internet, online video and government administration sectors in 2015.
Zhang Hongjiang, chief executive of Kingsoft Corp and Kingsoft Cloud, stated: “The cloud computing service will be the backbone of the whole company in the future.
“We will focus on the mobile video market, which is the core of our cloud computing business. Furthermore, we will expand our research and development capabilities, attracting more talent, which has also been our long-term objective.”
The new financing follows a $60m series C round featuring Kingsoft, IDG Capital Partners, which acts as IT media company International Data Group’s Chinese venture capital affiliate, and an associate of China Asset Management that was completed in February this year.
Smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi invested $1.8m in Kingsoft Cloud in 2012, in return for a 9.9% stake, before entrepreneur Yuri Milner provided $20m in series A funding the following year. Kingsoft, IDG Capital and Xiaomi supplied $66.6m for the company’s series B round in April 2015.