You might know Renren as the Chinese Facebook. But get ready for Renren 2.0: the Chinese Kickstarter. According to a recent news report, Renren get started offering peer-to-peer loan services.
Not to be outdone, Innovation Works, the company helmed by Microsoft and Google veteran Kai-Fu Lee and a Chinese Y-Incubator wanna-be, has finished raising new funds that will transform the company into a more conventional venture capital firm.
If you want a simple reason for both transformations, it is this: neither business model, in their original incarnation, made money. Renren had a lot of users, but even with the addition of revenue from gaming, loses money, and loses it quickly, as in $25 million a quarter.
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.
Monthly Membership
Yearly Membership
What you get
Full access to all premium content and our full archives
Members'-only newsletters
Preferential access and discounts to all TechNode events
Direct access to the TechNode newsroom
Start your free trial now.
Get instant access to all our premium content, archives, newsletters, and online community.