« Back to the top page
Venture Beat

City!N.com prepares for launch in China

Dean Takahashi, VentureBeat03.08.2008
Tags
Comments 0
Like the story? Get Alerts of big news events. Enter your email address

City!N.com is gearing up for a launch on Thursday in China as the country’s newest social networking service for Asian young adults.

Simon Chan, co-founder of the site says that the site won’t be just another Facebook clone for China. “We differentiate ourselves with innovative features that fit the tastes and interests of Asian (at this stage, Chinese) users,” he said.

And while the site will start as Chinese-only, Chan says it will expand to English and other languages over time.

chinasocial.jpgUsers create profiles where they explain their interests such as favorite movies, cars, or celebrities. They rate items and then the site recommends other people in the same local areas who have similar interests.

The company received angel funding in early 2007 from Samson Tam, a Hong Kong entrepreneur who invented an early Chinese-English electronic dictionary. The company’s founders have been refining their recommendation engine and launched two earlier social networks to test it in different parts of China. They found that what interested students in Guangzhou was different from those in Beijing.

Thanks to its close knowledge of Chinese culture, City!N will be tough for outsiders like Facebook and MySpace to beat in the Chinese market, Chan said.

Reprinted with permission from VentureBeat. Story copyright 2008 VentureBeat Inc. All rights reserved.

Post new comment

The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly.
Respectful debate is welcome, but comments that are defamatory, indecent, abusive, or in violation of any law will be removed.