Tech giant ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok and Douyin, has purchased a stake in the company managing top influencer Li Ziqi.
On 2 July, technology database company Tianyancha revealed that the Multi-Channel Network (MCN) company working with Li Ziqi, Hangzhou Weinian Brand Management (杭州微念品牌管理有限公司), had gained a subsidiary of ByteDance, Beijing Quantum Jump Technology, as a new shareholder. Hangzhou Weinian’s registered capital increased from approximately 7.04 million RMB to 7.17 million RMB.
Li Ziqi has over 100 million followers across Chinese and international social media platforms. She is one of the few Chinese influencers to become popular on western channels (she has 15.7 million followers on YouTube) and has been widely acclaimed for increasing knowledge about rural Chinese culture overseas.
The collaboration will give Chinese creators a platform abroad and help share Chinese culture across ByteDance’s platforms. It marks a move by the tech giant to expand investment into new consumption sectors (livestream, social commerce, and influencer marketing).
It is not the first time that ByteDance has bought into an MCN company. At the beginning of 2020, ByteDance invested 180 million RMB in the Series B financing of Taiyang Chuanhe 泰洋川禾, a Chinese celebrity management agency. It holds 8.85% of total shares.
Read more:
