KEY STAT | Social commerce unicorn Red eyes US public listing

After hiring a former Citibank executive as CFO in late March, social commerce startup Red (also known as Xiaohongshu, or “Little Red Book”) is reportedly considering a public listing in the US that is set to raise USD 1 billion for the company this year, 36Kr reported, citing the International Financing Review.

Backed by investors like Tencent, Alibaba, and GGV Capital, Red will be valued at over USD 10 billion after its IPO, according to local news media WallStreetCN.

Founded in 2013, Red started as a user community for travel and shopping tips. As of October 2019, its app’s number of monthly active users had exceeded 100 million, 70% of which were born after 1990, according to its website.

The company launched an e-shop feature in 2014 and has since emerged as a major social commerce platform in China.

This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.