Updated 8 March 2018, 1:40 pm: This post has been updated to include a confirmation from Douyu about its new financing deal with Tencent.
Game streaming platform Douyu (斗鱼) will receive $630 million (RMB 4 billion) financing from Tencent and sign a strategic agreement with the company. The news was published by Xue Di Chu Wang official WeChat account and confirmed by Douyu’s founder and CEO Chen Shaojie.
“I thank the shareholders for their support and thank my team for their effort and struggle even more,” said Chen. “In its new journey, Douyu will help Tencent dig deep into the game streaming field and complete the strategic collaboration between gaming and live streaming.”
A report from RFA Reuters published in January stated that Douyu is planning to raise about US$300-400 million from an IPO this year. However, the plan has not yet been confirmed by the company.
Gaming is the first area where China’s live streaming trend is really taking off. Just two days ago, TechNode reported that Chinese live streaming company YY is planning to spin off its gaming streaming unit Huya for an independent IPO. An earlier Bloomberg report put the unit’s valuation at around $200 million.
Screenshot from Douyu’s website
In January, Douyu’s COO Cheng Chao said that the company has had a breakthrough in revenue growth during 2017 lead by advertising and online gaming. In 2016, the company, which is known as China’s answer to Twitch, has recorded an income of RMB 1 billion. In 2017, this figure was increased thanks to China’s massively popular mobile game Honour of Kings AKA Arena of Valor.
Tencent has been backing the platform since March 2016 when it led a $100 million B financing round along with Sequoia and Nanshan Capital. It also participated in Douyu’s RMB 1.5 billion worth C financing round in August the same year. Last year, the company completed its D round of financing led by CMBI International Capital Corporation and Nanshan Capital.
