OSLO/BEIJING, October 2nd 2012 – P1, the Beijing private social network for the urban Chinese, today announced that it has completed a funding round from Northzone, the investment fund behind iconic companies such as Lastminute, Avito, Spotify, and StepStone. The investment will predominantly be used for further developing P1’s product and extending corporate relationships. Northzone’s co-founder Bjørn Stray will join P1’s board.
P1 is invitation-only and already caters to over 2.5 million members, currently most active in Beijing and Shanghai. On P1 members share everyday moments with friends and use the platform to share and discover lifestyle recommendations. P1 is also the first Chinese social network to offer a full bilingual Chinese-English structure, signalling the Company’s global outlook. The company is soon to release its new platform with enhanced features including mobile applications and location based functions.
P1 was launched in 2008 when its founders, Yu Wang and Sophia Pan, realised that the affluent urban Chinese consumer lacked a social platform to identify with. P1 has in the last year evolved into a broader platform with focus on connecting close real life friends with a high degree of authenticity.
“P1 wants to create an environment where members can share moments and lifestyle recommendations with close friends. P1 is also about moulding a global outlook with Chinese tradition. We chose Northzone as an investor due to their experience with growing innovative and ambitious companies into global players. We are very excited about working together” said Yu Wang, CEO & Co-Founder of P1.
Northzone, that is continuing to ramp up its BRIC portfolio, sees great potential in P1. P1’s product ambitions coupled with the focus on an underserved segment in a huge market presents a strong opportunity. Bjørn Stray comments: “Following our tradition of investing in Nordic entrepreneurs globally, we are thrilled about working with Yu and his team in growing a world class company.”
About P1
P1 is a private social network for the urban Chinese. P1 lets members share and recommend things in life to friends. Today P1 caters to over 2.5 million members and has partnerships with several of the leading lifestyle brands such as Chanel, Dior and BMW. www.p1.com.
About Northzone
Northzone is a leading technology investor. Established in 1996, Northzone has offices in London, Copenhagen, Oslo, and Stockholm. Since its inception Northzone has raised over $500 million, invested in some 80 companies. Notable investments include Spotify, Avito, Lastminute.com, Pricerunner, Nimsoft, Funcom and EPiServer.
For further information contact:
Bjorn Stray at Northzone and Yu Wang at P1