The Chinese group buying and venue review site, Dianping.com, has been awarded the title of “Chinese web company with the most investment potential.” That’s according to 70 leading venture investors in China who whittled down a list of 50 contenders to ultimately declare Dianping the winner. The event was hosted by Zero2IPO, which hooks up entrepreneurs with VC sources, and took place this past weekend in Shanghai.
The investors were particularly impressed, they said, by Dianping’s mobile apps – see here – for iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and Symbian. That’s not only because the apps look pretty good, but because their strength shows how the company understands the new mobile wave, and how it’s critical in driving growth. Indeed, right now monthly page views via mobiles represent about 50 percent of the site’s total, and are expected to surpass the regular site soon in terms of growth.
This August, Dianping had 10 million unique mobile users. The company claims more than 42 million monthly active users, approximately 20 million reviews, and over 1.2 million member merchants.
Dianping was founded back in 2003, solely as a site for local listings and reviews. But recently it utilised its local network and merchant ties to also provide daily deals in China’s over-crowded group buy sector. Earlier this year, the site secured joint investment of more than US$100 million from Trust Bridge Partners, Sequoia Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Back in April of this year, we caught up with Dianping’s Michael Jiang and talked to him on video about the site and its growth.
Stay updated on the go with our mobile app.
Get latest insights with smoother, more personalized experience through TIA mobile app.
