Cheetah Mobile, the Chinese firm that specializes in utility apps for smartphones, has enlisted the help of outside investors for its live-streaming service.
Cheetah announced this week that its one-year-old Live.me service has pulled in $60 million from a range of China-based investors that include Matrix Partners China, Evolution Media China, Gobi Partners, IDG Capital and Welight Capital. Cheetah itself also took part in the round. It said it retains a majority 70 percent share in the service following the deal.
Beijing-based Cheetah, which is listed on the NYSE, is best known for utility apps such as Clean Master, Battery Doctor and Speed Booster. Overall, Cheetah claims more than 620 million monthly users of its 20-plus services, with around 80 percent of that figure located outside of China.
Live.me, its take on China’s red-hot mobile streaming space, is adapting a similar international-focused approach. Sheng Fu, Cheetah’s CEO, said the firm will invest in technology and operations to grow the service in the U.S. and other international markets.
“Live.me has demonstrated a track record of strong growth in user number, user engagement and number of paying users, particularly in the U.S. market,” he said in a statement. “We will have more resources to build Live.me into a global social community through partnering with top financial institutions.”
This isn’t the first time that Cheetah, which makes its money via advertising and distribution deals, has ventured into media. It bought France-based News Republic, a news aggregator service, for over $60 million last year.
