Earlier, according to foreign media reports, Xiaohongshu was considering going public in the United States as early as this year. Investors said that the IPO may value the company at more than $10 billion.
Editor’s note: This article is from “Interface News”, reporter She Xiaochen, reprinted with authorization.
On March 26, Jiemian News learned that Yang Ruo, the former managing director of Citigroup’s TMT Investment Banking Division, Asia Pacific, will join Xiaohongshu as the company’s CFO.
According to foreign media reports, Xiaohongshu hired the former Citigroup’s managing director in Hong Kong, China, as the company’s chief financial officer. Foreign media also reported that Xiaohongshu is considering going public in the United States as early as this year, and investors said the IPO may value the company at more than $10 billion.
Xiao Hongshu confirmed the above appointment news and said that Yang Ruo will be responsible for the formulation of the company’s financial strategy, financial management and internal control in the future. However, the company said it has no IPO plan for the time being.
It is understood that Yang Ruo graduated from UC Berkeley. In addition to his work experience at Citigroup, he also worked in Ernst & Young’s San Francisco office and PricewaterhouseCoopers China.
Xiaohongshu was established in 2013, and its current content covers fashion, beauty, personal care, food, travel and other fields. According to official data, as of June 2020, the number of monthly active users of Xiaohongshu has exceeded 100 million, of which 70% are born in the 1990s.
In July last year, Xiaohongshu held its first brand conference in Shanghai and released a series of brand support policies. At the beginning of this year, the company renamed the brand cooperation platform “Xiaohongshu Dandelion” to accelerate the commercialization process.
Tianyan Check information shows that the company’s last round of financing was in June 2018. Xiaohongshu received more than US$300 million in Series D financing from Alibaba’s lead investment, with a valuation of US$3 billion. Jinshajiang Ventures, Tencent New and old shareholders including Investment, Jiyuan Capital, Yuansheng Capital, Tiantu Investment, Zhen Fund, and K11 Zheng Zhigang all participated in this round of financing.