Kik获腾讯投资 立志做西方的微信 Kik Raises $50 Million From Tencent

SAN FRANCISCO — Kik has long aspired to become the Western world’s equivalent of WeChat, the hugely popular Chinese messaging app that lets users book taxis, send payments — and also talk with their friends.旧金山——很长时间里，加拿大移动应用于Kik仍然渴求沦为西方世界的微信，后者是一个在中国十分热门的通讯app，用户可以用它预计出租车、缴付，也可以和朋友聊天。Now Kik has secured an investment from WeChat’s parent company.现在，Kik取得了微信母公司的投资。The service announced on Tuesday that it had collected $50 million in new capital from Tencent, the Chinese Internet giant that created WeChat four years ago.周二，Kik宣告取得中国互联网巨头腾讯公司5000万美元的投资，后者在四年前发售了微信。

The investment values Kik at $1 billion.这笔投资使Kik的估值超过了10亿美元。“We said we wanted to be the WeChat of the West,” Ted Livingston, Kik’s founder and chief executive, said in an interview. “To have WeChat come in and say, ‘Yep, we think you can do it,’ is very satisfying.”“之前我们说道过，我们想要沦为西方的微信，”Kik创始人兼任CEO泰德·利文斯顿(Ted Livingston)在拒绝接受专访时说。“现在腾讯给我们转了钱，还说道‘到底，我们实在你们能成，’这还一挺让人快乐的。”The move is the latest by a major Western messaging service in the hopes of growing to become the next big Internet force. Companies like Kik, Viber and Tango have sought to ride the wave of popularity that propelled WhatsApp to a $21.8 billion sale to Facebook and buoyed the valuation of Snapchat to $15 billion.这是各家西方主流的通讯app，为了沦为下一个互联网大角色所采行的近期措施。

在最近一波互联网热潮中，WhatsApp以218亿美元价格被Facebook并购，Snapchat的估值被推高到150亿美元，Kik、Viber和Tango等公司也企图借机构建进步。Among those messaging apps, Kik has been the most vocal about becoming the kind of Internet hub that WeChat has evolved into in China. Founded in January 2011, WeChat now lets users send image-laden messages, play games and buy plane tickets.在所有这些通讯app中，Kik尤为大力地回应，想沦为微信在中国所演变的那种互联网枢纽的角色。于2011年1月发售的微信，现在可以让用户发送到包括图片的信息，玩游戏和卖机票。

To Mr. Livingston, that has meant, in part, catching younger users. Kik now claims that 40 percent of American teenagers use its app, and that 70 percent of its 240 million registered users are between 13 and 24 years old.对利文斯顿来说，那在一定程度上意味著更有更加年长的用户。Kik回应，现在有40%的美国年轻人用于其app，而且在全部2.4亿名登记用户中，有70%是13岁至24岁的年轻人。Getting users early on means that they will be more comfortable using a service like Kik as a way to not only send messages, but also use add-on services. Already, the company has introduced new offerings like messages built on GIFs, the increasingly prolific animated images that now litter the Web.更有年长用户意味著，他们更加有可能不仅将Kik这样的app用来放信息，还乐意用于它获取的各种可选服务。Kik早已获取了一些新功能，比如发送到包括GIF图片的信息，这种动态图片如今在网络上随处可见。

It’s a similar approach, Mr. Livingston said, to how WeChat served as a gateway for many first-time Chinese Internet users — and then added more and more features to keep those people coming back.利文斯顿回应，这种策略和微信使用的方式类似于。微信当作了很多网际网路新手的入门应用于，之后它发售了更加多的功能，以维持用户粘性。

Though Kik and WeChat have known each other for some time, the investment grew out of a strategic review process that the Western app began in the spring with the help of Qatalyst Partners, the Silicon Valley boutique investment bank. Kik also weighed other options, including a sale of itself, but it favored an investment. Taking money from a like-minded Chinese counterpart simply made sense, according to Mr. Livingston.尽管Kik和微信相互了解早已有一段时间，但是这一融资要求是在Kik展开了战略评估之后作出的。该项评估是在硅谷精品投行Qatalyst Partners协助下，从今年春天开始展开的。Kik也对其他自由选择展开了权衡，其中还包括出售，但最后它更加偏向于融资。

利文斯顿回应，从一家思路相似的中国公司取得融资，让人感觉较为合理。With the new money, Kik will focus on growing and adding new offerings for its app, Mr. Livingston said. It also will help the company build revenue, which it has started collecting through initiatives like Kik Points, where users can garner rewards by visiting sites, taking surveys or joining services from partners.利文斯顿回应，新的资金做到后，将主要用作为app开发新功能，这也将有助公司减少营收。通过之前发售的Kik Points，该公司早已开始有营收入账。

在Kik Points系统里，用户可以通过采访网站、填上调查问卷或下载安装合作app而取得奖励。

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