Viadeo, a pan-European LinkedIn clone based in France, has raised a EUR 5 million ($6.8 million0 investment to be used to fund Asian expansion, reports NetEco (via AC). The round was led by previous invetsors AGF Private Equity and Ventech.
This is following a recent small stake acquired in Chinese counterpart Tianji. While LinkedIn has a good lead in the English-speaking professional social networking market and Germany’s Xing is strong at home and in Spanish-speaking countries, Viadeo, which was founded in 2004 and was until recently French-only, sees the Far East as one of the remaining gaps in the market. Available in German, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Dutch, the site says it’s in profit and claims over two million members, half of whom are in France, and a revenue make-up that is 80 percent premium subscription and 20 percent ads.