Tencent Joins RMB 4 Bln Round in Long-term Apartment Leasing Service Ziroom
The Paper, 1/16/18
Beijing-based Ziroom Shenghuo Asset Management, operator of online O2O long-term apartment leasing service Ziroom.com, recently announced completion of RMB 4 bln in Series A funding led by Warburg Pincus, Sequoia Capital China, and Chinese internet and mobile services firm Tencent (0700.HK). Other participants in the round included China Renaissance New Economy Fund, Sunac China Holdings (1918.HK), General Atlantic, Source Code Capital, Dongfang Haixia Capital Management, and New Hope Group.
Ziroom, originally a subsidiary of Chinese real estate agency Home Link Real Estate Brokerage, spun off as an independent company in May 2016. As of year-end 2017, the platform offered over 500,000 rooms, was available in 60 cities worldwide, had over 200,000 property owners, and over 1.2 mln renters.
Ziroom CEO Xiong Lin announced the following strategy for 2018:
1. Deepen the company's presence in China. While continuing to develop in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, the company will expand to new cities, including Hangzhou, Nanjing, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu, and Tianjin.
2. Increase offline product R&D and innovation; provide more accommodation products; and develop smart home, big data, community and social applications, and other online products.
3. Upgrade peripheral lifestyle services and market-oriented promotion. Bring services such as cleaning, maintenance, and house-moving to the general public.
4. Increase professional skills training for the Ziroom team.
According to its official website, Ziroom offers several long-term leasing products such as "Ziru Youjia" (shared accommodation), "Ziru Zhengzu" (independent accommodation), "Ziru Yu" (serviced apartments), owner-direct leasing, and Ziru Luxury. The platform also has two travel accommodation products, Ziroom Guest House and Ziroom B&B.
Keywords: long-term housing rental M&A VC China Renaissance Group Dongfang Haixia Xiong Lin Internet funding Tencent Series A General Atlantic Sequoia Capital Warburg Pincus 0700.HK New Hope Group O2O Source Code Capital Ziroom Sunac China New Economy Fund online real estate
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