Today Toutiao acquired 30% of Hupu for ¥1.26 billion, valuing it at ¥4.2 billion.
Formed in 2004, Hupu provides marketing planning, sports events marketing and management, as well as events management. It also operates businesses such as offline eSports events, e-commerce and gaming co-operation. It owns Hupu.com, the sports site with the most page views in China, a retail site for trending sports gear, and the app for Shihuo.cn. More than 30 million users had registered on its websites and apps as of March. [yicaiglobal]
A History
Hupu has been active in the capital market for a while.
It was pursuing an IPO in 2016 on the Chinese stock market with a revenue of ¥200 million in 2015.
Before its IPO efforts, Hupu finished its Series C of ¥100 million in 2014 led by Greenwoods (景林) and Series D of ¥240 million in 2015 led by Guirenniao.
Then in 2017, Hupu’s IPO didn’t go through as planned..
..which led to a round of ¥618 million led by CICC (also the underwriter for Hupu’s IPO).
Toutiao + Hupu
Ways to cooperate:
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- ads – precisely targeting a community with above-average purchasing power and distinguished tastes & shopping categories/habits
- video – Hupu’s sports video capabilities/rights/viewers will have synergies with Toutiao’s video infrastructure and recommendations; plus, Hupu will be one of Toutiao’s efforts to march into sporting business
- e-commerce: direct sale, and with the help from ads and video; Douyin’s video can lead to shopping on Hupu’s e-commerce platforms