Goldcool Founder's E-Commerce Start-Up Obtains RMB 200 Mln in Funding
Netease Tech, 3/22/11
Ge Binbin, founder of Chinese online game developer and operator Goldcool, a subsidiary of Shanda Games (Nasdaq: GAME), has announced that his new e-commerce start-up, Yu Wang Technology, has received RMB 200 mln in first-round funding from Shanda Interactive (Nasdaq: SNDA) and two other companies, with RMB 50 mln already deposited in the company's accounts.
Ge said that Shanda's contribution would not exceed one-third of the RMB 200 mln sum, and a second RMB 50 mln payment would be made in three months' time, while the remaining RMB 100 mln would be deposited and must be spent within one year. Ge said the initial RMB 50 mln would be used for initial construction of the website.
According to Ge, the new C2C e-commerce website will launch in the near future.
The site will utilize Shanda's Shengfutong online payment platform, which to date has approximately 12 mln active paying users.
As for Goldcool, Ge said that since the company's acquisition by Shanda Games, he has gradually faded into the background and participated less and less in the company's operations, though he still retains a 20% stake.
Shanda senior VP Qu Haibin expressed optimism about the new start-up's prospects and said Shanda may inject additional funds into the new firm.
Editor's Note: For more background on this topic, please see "Goldcool CEO's E-Commerce Start-Up to Launch within 1 Year" MD 3/22/11 issue.
Keywords: third-party payment active users Shanda Ge Binbin Internet funding C2C SNDA first-round Qu Haibin online payment Shengfutong e-payment