The move is the first tangible sign that WPP’s ‘VC style’ strategy is taking root in China, following a string of similar investments in Western markets, including one in VideoEgg, a company which resembles HDT.
“Our agencies and clients already work with them as they have 70 to 80 per cent market share,” said WPP China strategy director Scott Spirit (pictured).
“Our agencies and clients already work with them as they have 70 to 80 per cent market share,” said WPP China strategy director Scott Spirit (pictured).
He added that the deal fulfils two objectives for WPP.
“One is the financial return and, by having a stake in it, it will bring it a lot closer to all of our agencies.
“We will have a board observer and we hope to be involved with helping them develop and test new products.”
Spirit declined to comment on either the size or value of the stake.
HDT’s product portfolio includes iCast, a rich media ad-serving product with distribution agreements with all major portal and vertical sites in China; iStreaming, a video ad-serving product which has distribution agreements with all major video sites in China; iFocus, a contextual targeting advertising product; and T2C, an advertising network with over 200,000 sites delivering 150 million page views a day.
WPP joins existing investors that include CA-JAIC China Internet Fund, Cheng Wei Ventures, Manitou Ventures and Sequoia.
