Xiaomi confirms the $1.1 billion funding round at $45 billion valuation
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, that defines itself as ‘a software and e-commerce company that just happens to manufacture hardware’ is now worth $45 billion. The company just confirmed the $1.1 billion funding round led by All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund and Yunfeng Capital among others.
Co-founder and President of Xiaomi, Bin lin confirmed the news via Facebook post:
We just completed the latest round of funding last week, raising US$1.1 billion at valuation of US$45 billion. Investors include All-Stars Investment, DST, GIC, Hopu Fund and Yunfeng Capital among others. This is an affirmation of Xiaomi's stellar results in four years, and heralds a new phase for the company.
We will strive to continue bringing innovation to everyone, with a goal of producing high-quality, high-performance devices with great user experience. In January 2015, we will be unveiling our next flagship device. Big thanks to all Mi fans, business partners and investors for your strong support.
The $45 billion valuation puts Xiaomi ahead of both Sony and Lenovo combined in terms of worth. The $1.1 billion funding is also one of the largest tech financing rounds in the history after the $1.2 billion funding rounds(Series D and Series E) of Uber . At its last financing round in August last year, Xiaomi was valued at $10 billion.
Detailed read: How Xiaomi sells its high-end phones at low prices: a short lesson in the Economics of Pricing
Xiaomi shipped more than 15 million devices in the second quarter of 2014 – a marked 1.8 million more devices than Samsung, and looks set to achieve its ambitious target of selling 60 million devices this year. Earlier, co-founder and CEO of Xiaomi, Lei Jun had mentioned that the target for 2015 is an ambitious 100 million phones.
Related read: What India taught Xiaomi: On Flipkart, lessons and future plans with Hugo Barra, VP Global
The company also plans to set up a global R&D centre in India, Vice President Hugo Barra told YourStory in September.