Travel livestream startup Qinker netted eight figures in yuan for its Series A investment round from Frees Fund. With a strong foundation on Douyin, Qinker will use the new funds to ramp up its presence on other livestreaming platforms like Alibaba’s Taobao Live and Kuaishou.
Founded in Shanghai in 2014, Qinker originally expanded the sales channels of online travel booking platforms (OTAs) before becoming a core supplier of data analysis services for companies like Trip.com (then Ctrip) and Qunar in 2018. Following the pandemic, the company embraced the tourism industry’s transition to livestreaming as a way to connect with and sell travel experiences to potential customers.
Qinker joined Douyin in January 2021 and quickly became the top travel e-commerce brand on the popular short-video platform. It has grown the gross merchandize value of services sold on its Douyin livestreams from less than RMB 100,000 (USD 15,500) in January to over RMB 10 million (USD 1,550,000) in May, setting a GMV target of RMB 300 million (USD 46.5 million) for 2021.
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