Dianping.com Selected by 70 VCs in China and Abroad as Company with most Investment Potential

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Oct 21, 2011, 10:00 ET

SHANGHAI, Oct. 21, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- On October 20, the "2011 China Top 50 Companies with the Most Investment Potential" selected by 70 leading venture investors in China and abroad was released in Shanghai. Local review site Dianping.com topped the ranking. The selection was hosted by Zero2IPO Group, a leading service provider in China's venture capital and private equity industry.

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According to Ye Shuhong, CFO at Dianping.com, the site has been committed to providing consumers with convenient and accurate consumer information services and discounts at some merchants, while offering precision marketing solutions for numerous local merchants.

Founded in 2003, Dianping.com is one of the first independent third-party local review sites worldwide. As in June 2011, the site encompassed approximately 2,300 cities across China, and had 1.2 million member merchants and approximately 20 million reviews. It had more than 42 million monthly active users, with more than 500 million page views monthly.

Businesses of Dianping.com previously included e-coupons and promotion with keywords. In 2010, the site extended its scope into the group buying area. With more than RMB 100 million in monthly sales of the group buying business, the site is expected to be one of the few sustainable group buying sites in China.

Dianping.com's mobile client also attracted great attention from investors. The site announced in August that the number of its unique mobile users exceeded 10 million, and was increasing exponentially. Monthly page views via mobiles have represented over 50 percent of the site's total, and are expected to surpass the site soon in terms of growth. Mobile internet will be the focus of Dianping.com in the future, according to CEO Zhang Tao.

In April, Dianping.com secured a joint investment of more than US$100 million from Trust Bridge Partners, Sequoia Capital, Qiming Venture Partners and Lightspeed Venture Partners. The site has turned profitable since 2008, with revenues growing at a rate of over 200 percent annually thereafter. Revenues for 2011 are expected to be about 5 times more than 2010.

About Dianping.com

Dianping.com, established in April 2003, is a leading Shanghai, China-based online city life guide and one of the first online independent third-party consumer service rating sites worldwide, committed to providing restaurant, shopping, entertainment, leisure and life services through its interactive platform. The site provides detailed merchant information, featured promotions along with the consumer services ratings. In addition, the firm provides one-stop precision marketing solutions for small and medium-sized businesses, including e-coupons, keyword search, group buying and membership cards. Dianping.com has also successfully expanded into the mobile internet sector.

Some stats:

As of Q2 2011, with a footprint encompassing approximately 2,300 cities across China, Dianping.com had more than 42 million monthly active users, approximately 20 million reviews and over 1.2 million member merchants.
During Q2 2011, Dianping.com clocked, on average, more than 500 million page views monthly. The site's 10 million unique mobile users accounted for more than 50 per cent of the page views.
To date, Dianping.com has established branches in more than 20 cities including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Wuxi, Ningbo, Chengdu, Chongqing, Wuhan, Xi'an, Zhengzhou, Jinan, Qingdao, Shenyang, Dalian and Changsha.