WSJ - Oct 26 - Tencent is in talks to buy a stake in Chinese social network Happy Networks, owner of Facebook-like social network Kaixin001. Terms are still being finalized, but would involve Tencent initially spending ~$40M to buy an undisclosed minority stake in Happy Networks, which also has investment from Tencent's rival, Sina Corp.
by Nisha Gopalan and Loretta Chao
See full article at WSJ
CHINA TECH NEWS - Sep 19 - Chinese social network Kaixin001.com has announced that its group buying business, which it previously operated on its own, will transform to a third-party cooperation model. Starting from October 2011, the company will jointly operated this business with Ftuan.com, a Chinese website focusing on the online group buying sector. Kaixin001.com officially entered the Chinese group buying market in Dec '10. At the end of Feb '11, the website launched its own group buying deals.
See full article at China Tech News
This post also appears on DailyDealsObserver.
ASIAONE – Nov 13 – Kaixin001.com
and Renren.com, two of China's 1000+ social networks, are expected to
attract 124 million users by the end of the year; matching the
current social network user base in the country. According to the
China Internet Network Information Center, 42.4% of user logged in
just to kill time, while another 27.4% play cyber games. 52.6% of
users are in their twenties, 50.3% are students, 31.1% are white
collar workers, and 59.1% have junior college certificates.
FULL ARTICLE @ ASIAONE
SYS-CON MEDIA - Oct 19 - Kaixin001, the largest and fastest-growing social
network site in China, are joining forces with Ericsson to develop
mobile apps that will help millions of users access the site wherever
and whenever they want. Launched in March 2008, Kaixin001 already has
~50M subscribers and is attracting about 200,000 new registrations a
day. Future services could include real-time uploading of photos and
videos from mobile phones, SMS alerts on a favorite celebrity's
activities, and location-based services, such as checking if friends
are nearby. FULL ARTICLE @ SYS-CON MEDIA
WALL STREET JOURNAL -- May 21 -- The operator of one of China’s most popular social network, Kaixin001.com, has filed a lawsuit against Oak Pacific Interactive, which started a competing service in October under Kaixin.com. In the suit, Kaixin001.com has asked that Oak Pacific Interactive stop using the Kaixin.com name. Kaixin001.com, was launched in March 2008 and had 20m registered accounts and 700m page views by April 2009. It is best known for its addictive online games. But the rapid growth of Kaixin001.com posed a direct challenge to Xiaonei.com, currently the biggest and most influential social network in China, which also happens to be owned by Oak Pacific Interactive. When Oak Pacific Interactive launched Kaixin.com, it also adopted a layout and game options that looked a lot like those of Kaixin001.com. The new Kaixin.com soon became popular, perhaps in part because some users thought they were logging onto Kaixin001.com. FULL ARTICLE @ WALL STREET JOURNAL
VATOR NEWS -- Apr 15 -- Kaixin001, also known as "Happy Net," raises
$20 million from Qiming Venture Partners and existing investor Northern
Light Venture Capital. Kaixin001, also known
as “Happy Net,” was launched in April of 2008. The startup grew to 8m
active users in less than 5 months from its opening. As of 2009,
Kaixin001 is ranked as the 13th most popular Website in China,
according to Alexa. FULL ARTICLE @ VATOR NEWS
