Qutoutiao secured $242 million in funding to gain added user base.
Since the time TikTok app has soared to unprecedented heights of success, there has been a considerable surge in the short video-sharing platforms.
Also check:
What Type of Instagram Engagement You Should Prioritize
In one such instance, Qutoutiao App, a Chinese news aggregator which is known for its gossipy news and viral videos is spending millions of dollars to take on TikTok and other similar apps. In Chinese languages, the Qutoutiao is pronounced as “chew-tow-ti-ow” and means “fun headlines.”
Qutoutiao came into light in 2016 and was mostly surviving on click baits. To make itself more famous among the masses, the app was eyeing to retain more and more customers and for that, the temptation of cash rewards was a must.
Thanks to the much-needed funding, Qutoutiao was able to secure $242 million funding from investors including Tencent. Later the company pushed for $84 million initial public offerings in the U.S. Till date, Qutoutiao has bagged $326 million in fundings.
The secured funds were immediately directed to construct strategies regarding users acquisition and retention.
In the last quarter, the sales and marketing expenses of Qutoutiao jumped to $200 million, which is a jump of over 450 percent. But at the same time, the company also witnessed a substantial loss of $283 million, which was $14.3 million a year ago.
The bright spot in the future of Qutoutiao app was seen in $440 million revenue in 2018, which climbed to 484 percent.
All this gamble to mark its presence in the video-sharing domain seems to pay off. After infusing million to earn users, there was an addition of 93.8 million in the monthly active users in the last three months of the last year.
Regarding the time spent on the app, there was a jump of over 100 percent, as people spent 63 minutes on the app compared to 30 minutes in the year-earlier period.
Other similar platforms include Bytedance’s Jinri Toutiao, which has over 2.4 billion monthly user base. Even Tencent tried its hand in the short-video services, and the reports of a Facebook clone of TikTok is still ripe in the market.