Fashion website Yoka secured $15 million of funding led by Baidu and followed by Fidelity Growth Partners, and existing investors of Hearst Ventures, Matrix Partners China, and IDG. Tang Hesong, vice president of Baidu, has become a board member for Yoka (report in Chinese).
Co-founded in 2006, Yoka is China’s first vertical website targeted at premium brands and fashion industry. The affiliated websites are Yokamen, Yoka Mobile and Yoka Mall.
According to the company’s founder Zhou Jun, Yoka, which holds copyrights for more than 2 million high quality pictures and 7 million fashion tips from users, is premium content provider for Baidu. On the other hand, Baidu is a valuble platform for Yoka to introduce its contents to readers.
Zhou added Yoka maintained double-digit growth during 2012 to 2013, a harsh period for fashion industry. The company’s apps have recorded more than 70 million registered users on aggregate.
Zhou added that Yoka is seeking to transform and integrate the various links on the industrial chain in 2014, aiming to provide one-stop service for customers.