Tudou.com Raises $57 Million

Chinese online video site tudou.com has raised $57 million in new venture money. It’s a significant amount of money given concerns about government regulation and concerns about the world economy.

In December, Chinese regulators initially announced new rules that require all video streaming websites be owned or controlled by government entities. Later clarification said the rules wouldn’t apply to existing, privately owned video sites, so long as they could prove their content was in compliance with regulations.  Tudou hasn’t been issued a new license yet, so it isn’t clear if the company is fully compliant with government mandates; the company also received a warning last month from the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television for carrying content that violated government censorship rules.

Investors do not appear to be deterred.  The new funding is Tudou’s fourth round since its founding three years ago for a total of $85 million in venture funding. Tudou plans to spend the money to improve infrastructure and to further its plans to create a revenue sharing system with its content partners, including TV stations, film studios, and individual film makers In the first quarter of 2007, 116 Chinese firms raised around $941 million in venture funding. 

For more:
-  WSJ coverage of the Tudou.com investment

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