Internet moguls are being held hostage by the entertainment system!

Chapter 266 Series B funding secured, net worth skyrockets
April 15th, Beijing, Yingdu Building.

After much preparation and effort, and with various creative live-streaming formats, Douyin's Series B funding has finally been finalized today.

After a series of discussions among Chen Xiu, Zhang Yiming, and Su Xiao, they ultimately selected four investment companies: Tencent, Sequoia Capital, DST Global, and Shunwei Capital. The first three were the lead investors, while Shunwei Capital was a co-investor.

In Douyin Company's reception room, representatives from the four companies and Zhang Yiming signed the Series B financing agreement.

In addition to the usual terms and conditions, the agreement involves a financing amount of US$70 million, which will value Douyin at US$7 billion after the financing is completed.

For a company that has only been established for two years, such a rapid pace of development is truly remarkable.

"you did it."

"Yes, it was indeed done."

Looking at Su Xiao, who had a beautiful face, sparkling eyes, and a half-smile on her lips, Chen Xiu gently put his arm around her waist, mistakenly thinking that she was talking to him about something else.

Seeing this pathetic state, Su Xiao couldn't help but spit out, "I'm talking about my career, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm also thinking about my career..."

Slapping Chen Xiu's hand away, Su Xiao stood up, smoothed the wrinkles on her shirt, and said seriously, "What I'm saying is, when we left Didi, Douyin's achievements have now surpassed the scale of Didi back then."

Chen Xiu nodded, then shook her head.

"You're calculating from the Series D funding round onwards. If you're calculating the combined size of Didi and Kuaidi, it's still far smaller."

"Sooner or later."

Su Xiao got up and glanced at the computer screen on her desk, then put on her suit jacket.

"Now that the signing ceremony is over, I bet a lot of people will come looking for you, right?"

"I wish none of them would come, so I could stay here indefinitely."

"Your skills at flattery have improved! Have you been neglecting your own meaning lately?"

"She just left this morning to go to an audition..."

Su Xiao rolled her eyes, and just as she was about to say something, a knock came at the door.

When the door was pushed open, Zhang Yiming's smiling face peeked out from behind the crack in the door.

Looking at Su Xiao standing by the desk and Chen Xiu sitting on the sofa, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The signing ceremony is over, and Douyin's Series B financing has been successfully completed."

"Clap clap clap!" *2
Chen Xiu and Su Xiao clapped in unison, offering emotional support to Zhang Yiming.

"Hey, there's no need for this between us..."

Zhang Yiming waved his hand dismissively, then immediately realized and said, "Xiu, why aren't you going to the signing ceremony this time? Why do you want me to go?"

“You’re the president, and I’m just the chief strategy officer. Such important matters as financing and signing contracts should naturally be handled by someone with a prestigious title.”

"I feel like there's something odd about what you just said. Anyway, people outside are looking for you. Why don't you go out for a bit?"

"..."

Chen Xiu looked at Zhang Yiming with suspicion, wondering if he had rushed in after signing the contract and dealing with the reporters.

Zhang Yiming, observing his expression, explained, "Martin is looking for you; it seems he has something to discuss."

"Oh, okay, I'll go out for a bit."

Chen Xiu stood up, nodded to Su Xiao, and then pulled Zhang Yiming away from the office.

As Chen Xiu walked through the office area, she saw clear joy on the faces of all the employees. The increase in the company's valuation was a great thing from top to bottom.

Not to mention, many of them received stock options.

With the 10% option pool plus the 10% given up in the Series B financing, Chen Xiu still controls 39.69% of the shares through the investment company, which translates to a market value of approximately US$27.8 billion.

He has invested a total of $2 million in Douyin, including an angel round to start the company and a Series A round last year, which has now increased nearly 14 times.

The advantage of investing yourself is that your shares won't be diluted too quickly, and you'll always have a say.

When Chen Xiu arrived at the reception room and pushed the door open, she found that apart from Liu Chiping, Sequoia representative Shen Nanpeng and successor representative Lei Busi were still there, only the DST representative was not present.

When they saw Chen Xiu, they all smiled and walked over.

Halfway there, they all stopped in unison, looking each other over as if to ask: "Do you also need to see him?"

Chen Xiu looked at the three people from left to right, a thought flashing through her mind, and then asked the one with the least connection, "President Shen, why did you come in person today?"

"Haha! I usually handle good projects personally, Mr. Chen, what about that NIO car project from last time?"

"That's great, thank you, Mr. Shen."

"Of course, investing is about win-win cooperation. I see you're quite busy today, how about we schedule another time?"

Chen Xiu grasped his hand, smiled and nodded, and successfully saw him off.

Looking at Lei Jun again, Chen Xiu noticed that his face showed both an eager impulse and a concern that was difficult to express, suggesting that it was not appropriate for him to speak in front of so many people.

"Mr. Lei, how about we get together for dinner in a few days?"

"Okay! I'll be going now."

Lei Jun also reached out and shook hands with Chen Xiu, then left satisfied.

After seeing the two off, Chen Xiu finally faced Liu Chiping.

Seeing the smile on his lips and the way his eyes darted around, Chen Xiu instantly understood what he meant: "President Liu, why don't you come to my office for a bit?" "Hehe, that would be perfect."

The scene changed again, but this time even Zhang Yiming was asked to leave midway, leaving only Chen Xiu and Liu Chiping sitting opposite each other in the office.

After preparing coffee for Liu Chiping, Chen Xiu said, "I thought Jeffrey would come this time, but I didn't expect you to come in person."

Jeffrey Li, Li Zhaohui, Investment General Manager at Tencent.

Generally speaking, he is in charge of these kinds of financing and mergers and acquisitions, so there is really no need for Liu Chiping, as the chief steward, to make this trip.

"Didn't President Shen just say that high-quality projects still need to be handled personally?"

Liu Chiping took a sip of coffee with an unchanged smile, his tone relaxed and his body at ease, revealing a touch of scholarly elegance.

Chen Xiu looked at him noncommittally: "So you came all this way just to sign the contract, and nothing else?"

"Of course... there are other things too."

Liu Chiping changed the subject, put down his coffee, and said, "Do you know about 'Honor of Kings'?"

"Skin care is very profitable."

"What you said sounds a lot like Pony's assessment... This game is Tencent's current flagship product, with 5000 million daily active users, attracting widespread attention. I came to Beijing to attend the meeting."

"Oh, I see."

Chen Xiu took a sip of coffee and immediately stopped asking any further questions.

If I'm not mistaken, the meeting Liu Chiping mentioned was probably the "time limit order" that Tencent is about to withdraw from, which restricts the gaming time of minors, and then many older players emerged...

Liu Chiping didn't delve too deeply into the meeting; he came to see Chen Xiu for other matters.

But I don't know how to bring up other things.

While pondering, Liu Chiping picked up his coffee cup, held the handle, and played with it for several minutes, almost polishing the handle with a patina.

Finally, Chen Xiu couldn't help but ask, "President Liu, is there something you're having trouble saying?"

"Um...did you and Pony have a debate on WeChat Moments a few days ago?"

"You should be able to see the content."

"I saw it. Pony asked me to ask you, do you really not have a good opinion of Mobike?"

Chen Xiu really needed to think carefully before answering that question.

"I can only say that at this time last year, I was very optimistic about Mobike, but from the beginning of this year until last month, I had some doubts about it. Just then, Meituan showed interest in Mobike, so I took the opportunity to sell my shares."

"..."

Liu Chiping stared at Chen Xiu with a strange expression for a long time, then smiled.

“Meituan is also a strategic investment target of Tencent, and we are the largest shareholder besides the founding team. If Meituan were to acquire Mobike in the future, it would make no difference to us.”

"Hmm, from left hand to right hand?"

"The phrase 'different paths lead to the same destination' should be used here."

"That seems to be the case. Mr. Ma sent you to ask me what your reasoning is?"

Faced with Chen Xiu's puzzled look, Liu Chiping was at a loss for words.

After a moment, he said, "Pony is quite serious about some things and likes to argue with people around him in private. After we chatted on WeChat Moments last time, he had a lot of feelings. Knowing that I was coming to Beijing for a meeting, he asked me to come and take care of Douyin's Series B financing while I was here, and then invite you to the company's annual meeting at the beginning of next year."

"Attending the annual meeting?"

Chen Xiu stared at Liu Chiping for a while, thinking: If it's just about attending the annual meeting, it shouldn't be so difficult for him to speak... Hmm?
Remembering a rumor circulating in the industry, Chen Xiu's eyes lit up as she asked, "Does Mr. Ma want to have a drinking contest with me at the annual party?"

"Ahem, everyone's in a good mood, so it's normal to have a couple of drinks."

"I heard that he has a high alcohol tolerance and is very good at persuading others to drink. He has never been drunk and has even persuaded a lot of other people to drink."

"The rumors are unreliable; he only drinks occasionally."

Seeing Liu Chiping's insincere expression, Chen Xiu could guess just how occasional this "occasionally" really was.

As a shareholder of Tencent, attending the annual meeting in the past was nothing unusual, especially since Pony Ma had invited me; it would be a bit unreasonable not to give him face...

"Sure! I'll definitely be there for next year's annual meeting."

"OK, the message has been delivered. That's all. The coffee is very good, thank you."

As Liu Chiping got up to take his leave, Chen Xiu suddenly remembered the favor Wang, the richest man, had asked her to do.

"Mr. Liu..."

"Well, what happened?"

Does Tencent have any plans to expand into offline retail?

"Your question seems to have a hidden meaning. Please elaborate."

Liu Chiping stopped in his tracks, sat back down, and moved closer to Chen Xiu, wanting to hear what new investment projects he had to recommend.

Considering that Wang, the richest man in China, didn't have any concrete plans yet, Chen Xiu could only cautiously mention: "Some time ago, when I had dinner with Wang, he expressed the idea of ​​introducing external investment, but he didn't make any clear intentions. I definitely can't participate in this level of investment. I wonder if Tencent has any ideas."

"Your news is quite a surprise."

(End of this chapter)