E-commerce group JD.com has led a $400m round for China-based lift advertisement service XinChao Media Group, National Business Daily has reported, citing records from financial data aggregator Qixin.
Internet technology group Baidu also took part in the round, which made JD.com the largest XinChao shareholderand which valued the company at more than $2bn.
The deal represents JD’s first sizeable investment after Hu Zhengwei, formerly executive director at investment firm Warburg Pincus, replaced JD vice-president Hu Ningfeng (Jason) as head of strategic investment.
Founded in 2007, XinChao provides smart screen-based marketing campaigns targeting middle-class families, displaying adverts in more than 650,000 elevators across 105 Chinese cities. Brands can leverage its technology to distribute different ads based on information including lift users’ location and building labels.
JD had already led a $142m round for XinChao in August 2019 that followed a $302m round nine months earlier led by Baidu that took the company’s overall funding to $860m.
XinChao had secured $317m in funding from Chengdu High-Tech Zone Industrial Guidance Fund in 2018, after a $145m round the year before featuring software developers Shanghai 2345 Network and Kingnet Network as well as furniture provider Kuka Home and lighting producer Oppo Lighting.
The company’s earliest funding from undisclosed backers in a $9.7m angel round in 2014. Its earlier shareholders include furniture vendor Red Star Macalline, classifieds platform operator 58.com, education services provider TAL Education, Source Code Capital, Yuan Zhen Capital and Hangzhou Jintou.
