As home rental services and other sectors in the "sharing" economy boom, many firms such as Xiaozhu.com have been receiving interest from inventors. (Photo : Reuters)
Xiaozhu.com, a Beijing-based home-rental site founded in 2012, recently raised a total of $60 million worth of investments, making it the latest Chinese startup to lure investors to the country's booming "sharing" economy.
Among the investors in the fundraising are Morningside Venture Capital, Joy Capital, Magic Stone Alternative and Citic Capital Venture Partners.
The recent fundraising round valued the technology startup at over $300 million, the statement added.
The firm operates in a business paradigm akin to U.S. rental-sharing site Airbnb. Currently, it lists 30,000 homes in more than 200 cities and has offices in 20 key areas across the country.
In China, the growing number of vacant homes sparked interest for the homeowners to participate in such sites and rent out their properties for short-term stays.
Xiao Li, founding partner of Joy Capital, said that "the sharing economy has a huge influence on China's Internet sector."
Joy Capital's investment in Xiaozhu "reflects [its] bullish view on how the sharing economy is bringing about disruption in traditional lodging sector," Xiao added.
The Chinese startup is also linking up with Alibaba's Ant Financial Services Group to incorporate data on individuals' credit ratings in the "sharing" sector.
With the surge of locally developed apps paving way for a sound exchange of goods and services, China's sharing economy has been on the rise.
Recently, taxi-hailing app Didi Kuaidi Joint Co. and restaurant-review and group buying services Dianping Holdings Ltd. are gaining interest from possible investors.
Last month, hotel-booking site Tujia.com has also raised around $250 million in its latest fundraising round.
