Mafengwo completes fundraising round

Chinese tourism website Mafengwo announced on Tuesday that it has closed its Series D fundraising round of $133 million. New investors include General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm headquartered in New York, Ocean Link, a private equity firm in China, and Temasek, an investment company headquartered in Singapore.

Co-founded by Chen Gang and Lyu Gang in 2010, the online travel platform is popular with independent travelers in China, who like to read reviews of destinations, hotels and attractions.

Official data show that in the first half year of 2017, more than 62 million Chinese traveled overseas, up 5 percent compared with the same period in 2016.

According to Chen, the newly acquired funds will allow Mafengwo to further invest in its travel advice, content and data development.

Zhang Chi, the managing director and head of China at General Atlantic, said that the new generation of Chinese consumers, who have grown up in the internet era, prefer to explore the world via independent travel.

He’s confident about Mafengwo’s potential in serving these new consumers and looks forward to their cooperation to provide Chinese consumers with better travel services.