Bilibili to pour billions into content as video booms in China

Alongside posts on League Of Legends or Japanese manga series Naruto, Bilibili users now consume and create content on everything from life hacks to rap mixes and make-up tutorials. — Bloomberg

Bilibili Inc’s debut in Hong Kong March 29 marks another milestone for the fast-growing video streaming service, which has transformed from a hub for anime geeks to China’s top YouTube contender in just a decade.

The Internet upstart raised US$2.6bil (RM10.77bil) in another homecoming for a US-traded Chinese firm, hot on the heels of Baidu Inc’s share sale earlier this month. Bilibili’s stock more than quadrupled over the past year in the US, after the company emerged as an unlikely disruptor in the world’s largest social networking space. The ascendancy of the loss-making Shanghai startup – now worth US$34bil (RM140.93bil) – has been powered by its 200 million mostly Chinese millennial or Gen Z monthly users, as well as the backing of both Tencent Holdings Ltd and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.