The funding was led by Softbank Corp, and included Fidelity Capital, Grantie Global Ventures and Singapore’s Venture TDF Pte Ltd. Alibaba’s management team and staff will remain the largest shareholder after the investment, while Softbank Corp remains as the second largest shareholder.
The company plans to use the cash injection to expand its expand its auction website Taobao.com to compete with American rivals eBay and Yahoo.
The chief executive of the company is Jack Ma, a former English teacher and one of China’s richest people. He said the company is profitable, and would not rule out future acquisitions or a stock market listing following the successful fundraising.
The new investment will not only provide substantial funding for Alibaba to consolidate its leading position in the e-business industry but will also enable the company to gain the upper hand amid increasing competition, said Ma.
China has approximately 80 million internet users, and US heavyweight Yahoo plans to set up an online auction joint venture with Chinese internet portal Sina.com by the middle of next year. Meanwhile, eBay has paid almost $180.6m for rival auction site EachNet.
Alibaba aims to triple sales this year to $89.9m, up from $29.8m in 2003 and $10m in 2002.
This article is based on material originally published by ComputerWire
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