China-based smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi has begun talks for a fundraising round that would value it at up to $50bn, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Founded in 2010, Xiaomi released its first phone the following year. The company manufactures affordable smartphones it then sells directly online, and has grown to become the third biggest smartphone manufacturer by sales worldwide as of the third quarter of 2014, behind Samsung and Apple.
Xiaomi reportedly closed a funding round in August 2013 from undisclosed investors that valued it at $10bn, just over a year after raising $216m at a $4bn valuation. The new round would value it at between $40bn and $50bn.
The company’s existing investors include investment firm DST Global, one of the prospective investors in the latest round, wireless technology producer Qualcomm, IDG Capital, which invests as the China-based corporate venturing unit of media and data company IDG, Singaporean state fund Temasek, Morningside Ventures and Qiming Ventures.
News of the fundraising came as Xiaomi, which invested $200m in video streaming site Xunlei in April, announced it would invest a further $1bn in online video content.
Xiaomi is flush with money right now. Its net profit rose 84% year on year to $566m in 2013, according to documents seen by the Wall Street Journal, with a further 75% increase forecast for this year.