A Chinese YouTube Disappears, Along With Millions Of Western Dollars. Next?

For the past year, three sites--Tudou, Youkuand 56.com--have been battling to become the "YouTube of China," soaking up nearly $200 million in venture capital funding along the way. Silicon Alley reports.

"Now, there appear to be just two: 56.com, a site that raised $30 million and recently announced a partnership with the National Basketball Association, shut down without explanation on June 3.

When 56.com first went down, attention immediately turned to the fate of competing sites Tudou and Youku. Like 56.com, neither were granted a "video license" by the Chinese government.

Yet, whatever the cause of 56.com's downtime, and the odds that Tudou or Youku suffer the same fate, outside investors in the firms haven't exactly been deterred.

Last week Youku raised another $40 million, bringing its total to $80 million. Tudou raised $57 million in April, bringing its total raise to more than $85 million. (56.com itself raised its last $20 million in December.)"

emily | 12:41 PM | |
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Comments

I wondered how long these sites would survive being that they host illegal movies.

Posted by: geraldz | July 7, 2008 4:45 PM

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