Watch out Uber. ByteDance may soon become the worlds’ most valuable tech startup

SoftBank is reportedly considering a $1.5bn investment into the Chinese internet technology company, putting ByteDance’s value at roughly $78bn

Watch out Uber. ByteDance may soon become the worlds’ most valuable tech startup

Most entrepreneurs can only dream of having billions invested into their company. However, for ByteDance, a fast rising Chinese internet business, this could soon become reality as investors like SoftBank, KKR & Co and General Atlantic are reportedly planning to make a giant investment into the scaleup.

This investment could have big impact on the six-year-old company, which was said to be seeking around $3bn in the current round. SoftBank is initially targeting an investment of about $1.5bn, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. Though the current deal is still in discussions and what the final figure will be is still unclear, this number could turn out to be even bigger.

For anyone unfamiliar with the brand, ByteDance is one of a new line of Chinese companies challenging tech titans like Tencent Holdings and Alibaba. And unlike many of its native peers, the startup has grown without the support of these two giants.ByteDance is best known for being the parent company for Toutiao, the news aggregator which uses artificial intelligence to personalise content for its users. It also owns short-video apps BuzzVideo, Vigo Video and Douyin, which is known as Tik Tok abroad. As of July the service had 500 million monthly active users. Tik Tok is being merged with the Musical.ly app which has over 100 million active users.

Being valued at $75bn would also mean the it would kick Uber of the throne as the most valuable startup in the world. Uber Technologies was valued at $72bn, according to CB insights, the VC deal database. While ByteDance may be less known to UK customers, the new valuation is certain to put the company on the map.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Anne Struijcken
Anne Struijcken
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