Kuaishou, a China-based photo-sharing app developer backed by internet group Baidu, intends to float in the US later this year, TechCrunch reported yesterday citing undisclosed sources.
Founded in 2011, Kuaishou operates a social media app focused on photos and videos which are laid out in a grid formation on a phone’s screen. Users can also pay for virtual coins in order to buy ‘gifts’ for each other.
The app, which is dubbed Kwai in the US, has more than 40 million daily active users and 100 million monthly active users, most of which are in their teens and early twenties.
Kuaishou has not disclosed details of its venture capital funding but sources told TechCrunch its other backers include investment firm DST Global and VC firms Sequoia Capital and DCM, and that it is now valued at about $3bn.
The initial public offering is being lined up to take place in the second half of 2017, but much may depend on the success of US-based counterpart Snap, which filed for its own IPO last week.
Snap is expected to float next month with a $25bn valuation but its newly publicised losses may put off prospective buyers.