China short-term rental platform Xiaozhu has raised $60 million, its largest funding to date.
The Series C round was led by Joy Capital while Morningside Capital, CITIC Capital and Jade Capital also participated.
Xiaozhu began operations in 2012 and currently covers about 200 Chinese cities, including more than 20 major cities.
Funds from this round will be used for brand building, the development of new products, recruitment and improving the user experience, according to chief executive Chi Chen.
Joy Capital’s founding partner Xiao Li adds that the sharing economy is impacting every area sector of China's online businesss:
"We foresee the sharing economy revolutionizing the traditional accommodation industry and have decided to invest in Xiaozhu.
"It is the only company in China offering short-term rentals with the Airbnb model and its rapid growth over the last three years has confirmed that the sharing economy will bring big changes for the China’s accommodation industry."
The accommodation sharing segment continues to be a hot investment with Airbnb recently securing US$1.5 billion in financing, lifting its value to an estimated $25.5 billion.
Xiaozhu is also pioneering the use of personal credit in the short-term rental industry via a partnership with Ant Financial Group’s Sesame Credit.
NB: A version of this article originally appeared on China Travel News.