Wowo Ltd. (or 55Tuan), one of the first group-buying services in China, recently filed for US IPO as a local lifestyle e-commerce platform. The company plans to raise just US$40 million from the IPO, so the offering doesn’t look like it is intended to raise funding. It’s likely to do with rumors that Meituan and Dianping, currently the leading Chinese group-buying services, are planning for US IPO too.
March 2010 marked the beginning of China’s group-buying market, with a wave of Groupon clones launched that month, including 55Tuan, Meituan and LaShou. Some other Chinese online services such as Dianping, the leading ratings and reviews site, would add group-buying to their existing offerings.
55Tuan and LaShou were the most aggressive over the next few years in terms of fundraising, headcount and marketing. Each had raised about US$150million in funding by 2012.
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.