Alibaba Funds Mobile Travel Journal App '177go'
Netease Shouji, 4/17/13
Pu Minghui, CMO of Shanghai Quewo, developer of mobile travel journal and experience-sharing app 117go, confirmed recently that the app received a USD 7-digit sum in Series A' funding from Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group in March. Quewo CEO Chen Wei said that the company will use the funding for product development and marketing, with the goal of breaking the 10 mln-user mark by the end of 2013. 177go currently has more than 5 mln registered users, and 200,000 active daily users.
Alibaba Investment head Xie Shihuang led the investment. According to a source on the 177go development team, the application may become a strategic resource for Alibaba's payment tool Alipay and the company's Travel Services division in the future, possibly serving as a major mobile point of entry for "Taobao Travel."
177go has worked with brands including The North Face and Lonely Planet magazine, and has partnerships with a number of regional travel bureaux, travel agencies, and OTAs.
Editor's Note: In February 2012, 117go received an investment from a well-known domestic angel investor of several million RMB. In July 2012, the company completed USD 7-digit Series A funding from venture capital firm Redpoint Ventures.
117go is a travel journal and experience sharing app. Users can create travel journals featuring pictures and notes from various trips they have taken. The app records the time and location information of each entry, and allows for content to be shared with social networking sites.
For more background on this topic, please see "Travel Journal App Lands USD 7-Digit First-Round Funding" MD 1/31/13 issue.
Keywords: Pu Minghui Quewo 117go online travel funding wireless Alipay mobile travel first-round Redpoint Ventures registered users Chen Wei Xie Shihuang Taobao Travel VC Alibaba Group mobile application
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