2015 Internet Summit Forum - The 2015 "Peak" of Zijin
Beijing and Shanghai, May 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Recently, one of the most sensational financing stories in the internet industry has been Tuniu Travel Network securing a USD 500 million investment led by JD.com. Yu Dunde, CEO of Tuniu Travel Network, stated that the resources and capital brought by this new investment will provide strong financial and resource backing for Tuniu to continuously enhance customer experience. Building on this, Tuniu will continue to expand its market share. In the next three years, Tuniu aims to achieve the “Three Ones” strategy: expanding to 1,000 departure cities, 100 overseas destinations, and 1 million destination resource SKUs.
On June 5-6, the “Internet Summit Forum - 2015 Peak of Zijin,” themed “Disrupt Tradition, Share the Future,” will be held in Nanjing. One of the protagonists of this story and the organizer of the forum — Tuniu Travel Network — will invite numerous professional investors to discuss “Entrepreneurship and Financing,” teaching cash-strapped entrepreneurs how to secure funding.
Business development is inseparable from the support of capital, a belief shared by many entrepreneurs. In China, over half of high-quality small and medium-sized enterprises have financing needs, and “lack of funds” and “ineffective financing channels” have become major constraints on their growth. Traditional financial institutions such as banks tend to favor large enterprises for financing, leaving small and micro-sized businesses underserved.
In addition to traditional financial institutions, many startups hope their projects can attract the attention of investment firms, as these firms can not only alleviate financial pressure but also provide certain industry resources to help startups grow better. However, many investment firms shy away from early-stage startups with strong funding demands due to concerns over incomplete sales channels, unproven founding teams, and inadequate cost controls — factors that may prevent their investments from paying off.
Previously, during an appearance on CCTV’s high-end financial interview program “Dialogue,” Yu Dunde candidly shared how Tuniu also faced challenges in “finding money” during its early stages.:“We met with over 100 investors. At first, we were left speechless by their questions, but later we began reflecting on them — ‘How young are you? How big of a company can you manage? What level can you lead everyone to?’ The more we thought about it, the more confident we became.”
In early 2009, Tuniu secured its first round of funding from Gobi Partners, at a time when many top-tier venture capital funds were becoming increasingly active in China. In the following years, Tuniu completed B, C, and D rounds of financing, and on May 9, 2014, it successfully went public, becoming the first Chinese company focused on online leisure travel to list on the U.S. stock market. It also secured an additional USD 148 million in financing in December 2014. Earlier this May, Tuniu received another USD 500 million investment led by JD.com.
Always a “darling” in the eyes of venture capitalists, Tuniu will gather at this summit some of the industry’s most prestigious investors, including Tencent Investment — Tencent’s most mysterious division, Legend Holdings’ investment arm — Hony Capital, and DCM, which focuses on early-stage investments and is also an investor in Vipshop. Among them, DCM and Hony Capital are also existing investors in Tuniu.
Renowned professionals from leading investment institutions, such as Yuan Bing, Managing Director of Hony Capital; Mu Yifei, Investment Director of Tencent Investment & M&A Department; and Zeng Zhenyu, Partner at DCM, will share their classic investment cases at the forum. They will also analyze what makes a good project in the eyes of investors and how to win their favor. These insights are sure to offer valuable guidance to startups struggling with financing challenges.
The Internet Summit Forum - 2015 Peak of Zijin is just around the corner, and a host of internet industry leaders are on their way. Search for and follow the official WeChat accounts “InternetSummit” or “互联网高峰论坛,” then click on “Conference Tickets”in the menu to begin the ticket purchasing process.