Jan 4, 2017

Trustbridge leads $23m Series A in media startup Shanghai Bajiulin Subscribe to our newsletter U.S. 100 dollar banknotes and Chinese 100 yuan banknotes are seen in this picture illustration in Beijing, China, January 21, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee Tomas S. Noda III January 4, 2017: &nbsp Shanghai Bajiulin, a new media and knowledge sharing startup, closed a $23 million (RMB160 million) series A round led by growth equity investor Trustbridge Partners . The startup’s post-money valuation reached $287 million following the round, in which Zheshang Venture capital, Toutoushidao Capital, and Puhua Capital also participated, the China Money Network reported. Founded in 2014 by Chinese financial writer Wu Xiaobo, Shanghai Bajiulin targets middle-class Chinese consumers willing to pay for content such as video and radio talk shows covering professional financial and business topics. Also Read: Six China state-owned firms invest $88m in ThePaper.cn The company claims its flagship video channel named Channel Wu and hosted by Wu Xiaobo has gained over two million followers, while another video programme, Datou Channel, has garnered 780 million views. Shanghai Bajiulin is just one of several local paid content producers that raised venture funding in the past 18 months, CMN noted. Some of these are video and audio knowledge platform Logical Thinking, including knowledge sharing mobile app Zaihang, and Fenda. Tencent Holdings Ltd Sequoia Capital, Vision Plus Capital and others invested up to $29 million in Zaihang and Fenda last year, while CMC Capital, Qiming Venture Partners invested in Logical Thinking, also known as Luoji Siwei, in 2015. Also Read: