NEW DELHI: Viadeo, the professional social network which operates Apnacircle in India, has completed series D fundraising round of $32 million, split between the French Sovereign Wealth Fund, the Fonds Stratégique d’Investissement, existing institutional shareholders, Idinvest and Ventech, and a pool of new investors including Allianz, Jefferies, the global investment banking firm, and Middle Eastern private funds.
The new investment will allow Viadeo to accelerate growth in Europe and China (with its local brand Tianji), as well as other key emerging markets such as Latin America, Russia, India (local brand ApnaCircle), and Africa.
“This achievement serves as a testament to the value Viadeo brings to its users whether they are managers, corporate professionals, recruiters or entrepreneurs who are its registered users,” the company said.
Viadeo had reached profitability in early September 2009. With over 45 million members worldwide, Viadeo claims leadership in France and China markets.
It is the world’s second largest professional social network and is growing at one million new members each month, the company said.
The company focuses on non-English speaking markets and continues to pursue an aggressive international development strategy with recent partnerships such as the announcement of a joint venture in Russia in the second half of 2011.
"We‘re a global society where critical business connections span multiple languages, geographies and cultures," said Viadeo CEO Dan Serfaty. "We have always been laser-focused on our ‘multi-local‘ approach, which goes beyond simple translation and focuses on catering to, and understanding the business and cultural needs of each market. This approach has awarded us tremendous growth and success in both European and emerging markets."
Viadeo’s members consist of business owners, entrepreneurs and managers from a diverse range of businesses both start-up and well-established. Every month Viadeo attracts more than 1,000,000 new members, 10,000,000 new connections are made and over 100 million profiles are viewed.
Based in Paris (head office), Viadeo also has offices and teams in the UK (London), US (San Francisco), Spain (Madrid and Barcelona), Italy (Milan), Russia (Moscow) China (Beijing), India (New Delhi), Mexico (Mexico City) and Senegal (Dakar). The company employs 400 staff worldwide.
