Another week, another huge deal for an innovative Chinese tech company.
A startup founded by former Qihoo 360 VP Tao Li has raised $100 million from a who's who list of venture investors: Chengwei Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Redpoint Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital and private equity firm SIG.
APUS Group, the startup, is -- you guessed it! -- in the mobile space, developing apps and features. Based in Beijing, APUS (or Swift Bird) has developed a bunch of applications that make it easier, faster and more convenient to use the Android operating system. One of the main complaints about Android phones is that they are slow. The app also help to conserve battery power, another priority need.
The company's APUS Launcher claims more than 90 million users, since its debut six month ago. Such numbers help to explain the size of this latest investment. So does the fact that the founder has ambitions to tackle overseas markets, another trend today among Chinese tech startups.
This financing of $100 million follows an earlier investment by Redpoint Capital and NLVC of $16 million last year.
