Dianping Receives USD 10m Investment

Chinese online restaurant ratings and group-buying site Dianping.com has received an injection of over USD 10 million in capital from four venture capital firms (Trust Bridge Partners, Sequoia Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners). This is the third significant investment Dianping has received, following previous investments by Sequoia Capital and Google respectively. At present, Dianping.com is valued at close to USD 1 billion in the eyes of investment institutions.

Although it offers a wide-ranging directory of businesses and services across 2,000 Chinese cities (as of March 2011), most of Dianping's more than 30 million active users still use the site mainly for its enormous database of restaurant listings and reviews.

The company will use the USD 10 million investment to expand its reach further, tapping into more cities, developing its Group buying business and mobile internet services, as well as looking at potential acquisitions. Dianping CEO Zhang Tao has also laid out a vision for Dianping's future based on a model incorporating elements of Yelp, Groupon and Foursquare. Since the launch of Dianping's groups buying business last summer, it has become the company's major driver of revenue, accounting for 40 percent of Dianping's total business.

American-based Sequoia Capital's interest in Dianping is interesting - will we see Dianping also developing a presence overseas? An English-language service? As a long-time Dianping devotee, I'm waiting to see where this goes.

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