BEIJING (AFX) - Sequoia Capital, one of the world's leading venture capital firms, has invested four mln usd in 51.com, a Chinese social networking site, the network operator said in a statement.
'51.com plans to seek further financing by the year-end, and try to list on Nasdaq within three to five years,' said Pang Shengdong, 51.com's chief executive officer.
Pang said 51.com business plan focuses on online advertising, wireless value-added services and sales of virtual items.
Shen Nanpeng, a partner at Sequoia Capital China, said Sequoia Capital will make a subsequent investment once the initial investment of four mln usd is completed.
Shen did not disclose further details.
51.com was founded in 2005 and currently has active users of nearly 10 mln.
Sequoia Capital has invested in Cisco, Oracle, Yahoo and Google in their early stages of development.
kelly.zang@xinhuafinance.com
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© 2006 AFX News
