Tencent has invested $50m in Kik, the teen-focusedchat app which aspires to be the ‘WeChat of thewest’, valuing the Canadian start-up at over $1bn.

騰訊(Tencent)向以青少年為目標用戶的聊天應用Kik投資5000萬美元，使這家加拿大初創企業的估值超過10億美元。Kik的目標是成為“西方的微信(WeChat)。

The Chinese internet group, which owns WeChat, is betting that Kik could replicate its ownsuccess in developing chat apps into a platform that incorporates everything from ecommerceto banking in the US.

微信是騰訊的旗下產品，這家中國互聯網集團正押注Kik能在美國復制微信的成功，把聊天應用發展為一個覆蓋從電子商務到銀行業務等眾多領域的平臺。

Kik raised funds from venture capitalists including Union Square Ventures, which backedTwitter, and SV Angel, an investor in many social apps including Pinterest, last November.

去年11月，Kik從包括合廣投資(Union Square Ventures)和SV Angel在內的風投機構獲得了融資。合廣投資曾投資Twitter，而SV Angel則是Pinterest等眾多社交應用的投資方。

But it had hired advisers to explore more strategic investments, including, it was reported, apossible sale.

但是，Kik也聘請了咨詢機構來探索更多的戰略性投資，據報道，其中包括將自身出售的可能性。

Ted Livingston, chief executive of Ontario-based Kik, said Tencent was always at the top of itswish list of potential partners. He is looking forward to bouncing ideas off Tencent as hedevelops more services for Kik.

Kik總部位于安大略，其首席執行官特德利文斯頓(Ted Livingston)稱，騰訊一直排在Kik潛在合作伙伴愿望清單的第一位。他期待在為Kik開發更多服務時與騰訊方面探討想法。

The teen-focused app allows people to watch YouTube videos within chat and haveconversations with ‘marketing bots’ programmed to give both helpful and funny answers.

這個專注于青少年的應用軟件允許人們在聊天過程中觀看YouTube視頻、以及與“marketing bots程序進行對話。“marketing bots是一個提供既有用又好玩的答案的程序。

However, he wants to expand into other services that look to target teenagers while they arestill forming their shopping habits.

然而，利文斯頓希望擴展至其他面向青少年群體的服務，這個群體仍然處于購物習慣的形成期。

“For all these youths coming online for the first time it is an opportunity for ecommerce sitesand financial institutions to build something amazing just for them, in a place they are spendingall their time anyway, he said.

他表示：“就剛開始上網的少年人而言，這是電子商務網站和金融機構專門針對他們打造一些超棒服務的好機會，畢竟他們總是掛在這個平臺上。

Some 70 per cent of Kik’s 240m registered users are aged between 13 and 24, with thecompany estimating that about 40 per cent of US teens use Kik.

Kik擁有2.4億注冊用戶，其中70%的人年齡在13至24歲之間，該公司估計美國約40%的青少年都使用Kik。

Tencent’s WeChat and Weixin, both similar chat apps, boasted 600m monthly active users lastquarter, up 37 per cent year on year. But the vast majority of these users are based in Chinaand the company does not yet have a foothold in the US.

騰訊旗下的微信和微信國際版是類似的聊天軟件，上一季度二者合計擁有6億月度活躍用戶，同比增加37%。但其絕大多數的用戶都在中國，騰訊尚未在美國站穩腳跟。

However, Tencent, like Chinese rival Alibaba, has been busy investing in western technologycompanies. It is widely reported to have invested in Snapchat, the disappearing photomessages app, as well as Whisper, an anonymous messaging app, Cyanogen, a mobilecustomisation app and Scanadu, a maker of health diagnostics hardware. Alibaba’s VC arm hasalso invested in Snapchat, as well as messaging app Tango.

然而，就像中國本土競爭對手阿里巴巴(Alibaba)一樣，騰訊也忙于投資西方科技企業。有廣泛報道稱，騰訊投資了閱后即焚照片分享應用Snapchat、匿名通訊軟件Whisper、手機系統定制應用Cyanogen以及健康診斷設備制造商Scanadu。阿里巴巴的風投部門也投資了Snapchat以及通訊軟件Tango。

Mr Livingston said many western social apps did not understand the value of chat as aplatform for other services. But he said Facebook had showed it did understand when it hiredDavid Marcus, former chief executive of PayPal, to lead its work on messaging. Facebook hassince begun integrating payments and conversations with retailers into the FacebookMessenger app.

利文斯頓稱，西方很多社交軟件并不理解聊天應用作為其他服務的平臺的價值。但他稱，Facebook聘請了PayPal前首席執行官戴維氠鎚斯(David Marcus)來領導通訊方面的工作，這表明它理解了這一平臺的價值。從那之后，Facebook已開始將支付和與零售商交流的功能整合在Facebook Messenger軟件中。

However, Mr Livingston said Facebook was no longer the preferred destination of teens. “If youare a retailer going after adults you will use Facebook Messenger but every study out thereshows teenagers don’t like Facebook, they have it but they have it in the same way we all havea driver’s licence, he said.

然而，利文斯頓稱，Facebook不再是青少年所青睞的平臺。“如果你是以成年人為目標的零售商，你會使用Facebook Messenger，但是所有研究都表明青少年不喜歡Facebook，他們安裝了該軟件，但是這就像我們所有人都有駕照一樣，他稱。

Tencent has invested $50m in Kik, the teen-focusedchat app which aspires to be the ‘WeChat of thewest’, valuing the Canadian start-up at over $1bn.

騰訊(Tencent)向以青少年為目標用戶的聊天應用Kik投資5000萬美元，使這家加拿大初創企業的估值超過10億美元。Kik的目標是成為“西方的微信(WeChat)。

The Chinese internet group, which owns WeChat, is betting that Kik could replicate its ownsuccess in developing chat apps into a platform that incorporates everything from ecommerceto banking in the US.

微信是騰訊的旗下產品，這家中國互聯網集團正押注Kik能在美國復制微信的成功，把聊天應用發展為一個覆蓋從電子商務到銀行業務等眾多領域的平臺。

Kik raised funds from venture capitalists including Union Square Ventures, which backedTwitter, and SV Angel, an investor in many social apps including Pinterest, last November.

去年11月，Kik從包括合廣投資(Union Square Ventures)和SV Angel在內的風投機構獲得了融資。合廣投資曾投資Twitter，而SV Angel則是Pinterest等眾多社交應用的投資方。

But it had hired advisers to explore more strategic investments, including, it was reported, apossible sale.

但是，Kik也聘請了咨詢機構來探索更多的戰略性投資，據報道，其中包括將自身出售的可能性。

Ted Livingston, chief executive of Ontario-based Kik, said Tencent was always at the top of itswish list of potential partners. He is looking forward to bouncing ideas off Tencent as hedevelops more services for Kik.

Kik總部位于安大略，其首席執行官特德利文斯頓(Ted Livingston)稱，騰訊一直排在Kik潛在合作伙伴愿望清單的第一位。他期待在為Kik開發更多服務時與騰訊方面探討想法。

The teen-focused app allows people to watch YouTube videos within chat and haveconversations with ‘marketing bots’ programmed to give both helpful and funny answers.

這個專注于青少年的應用軟件允許人們在聊天過程中觀看YouTube視頻、以及與“marketing bots程序進行對話。“marketing bots是一個提供既有用又好玩的答案的程序。

However, he wants to expand into other services that look to target teenagers while they arestill forming their shopping habits.

然而，利文斯頓希望擴展至其他面向青少年群體的服務，這個群體仍然處于購物習慣的形成期。

“For all these youths coming online for the first time it is an opportunity for ecommerce sitesand financial institutions to build something amazing just for them, in a place they are spendingall their time anyway, he said.

他表示：“就剛開始上網的少年人而言，這是電子商務網站和金融機構專門針對他們打造一些超棒服務的好機會，畢竟他們總是掛在這個平臺上。

Some 70 per cent of Kik’s 240m registered users are aged between 13 and 24, with thecompany estimating that about 40 per cent of US teens use Kik.

Kik擁有2.4億注冊用戶，其中70%的人年齡在13至24歲之間，該公司估計美國約40%的青少年都使用Kik。

Tencent’s WeChat and Weixin, both similar chat apps, boasted 600m monthly active users lastquarter, up 37 per cent year on year. But the vast majority of these users are based in Chinaand the company does not yet have a foothold in the US.

騰訊旗下的微信和微信國際版是類似的聊天軟件，上一季度二者合計擁有6億月度活躍用戶，同比增加37%。但其絕大多數的用戶都在中國，騰訊尚未在美國站穩腳跟。

However, Tencent, like Chinese rival Alibaba, has been busy investing in western technologycompanies. It is widely reported to have invested in Snapchat, the disappearing photomessages app, as well as Whisper, an anonymous messaging app, Cyanogen, a mobilecustomisation app and Scanadu, a maker of health diagnostics hardware. Alibaba’s VC arm hasalso invested in Snapchat, as well as messaging app Tango.

然而，就像中國本土競爭對手阿里巴巴(Alibaba)一樣，騰訊也忙于投資西方科技企業。有廣泛報道稱，騰訊投資了閱后即焚照片分享應用Snapchat、匿名通訊軟件Whisper、手機系統定制應用Cyanogen以及健康診斷設備制造商Scanadu。阿里巴巴的風投部門也投資了Snapchat以及通訊軟件Tango。

Mr Livingston said many western social apps did not understand the value of chat as aplatform for other services. But he said Facebook had showed it did understand when it hiredDavid Marcus, former chief executive of PayPal, to lead its work on messaging. Facebook hassince begun integrating payments and conversations with retailers into the FacebookMessenger app.

利文斯頓稱，西方很多社交軟件并不理解聊天應用作為其他服務的平臺的價值。但他稱，Facebook聘請了PayPal前首席執行官戴維氠鎚斯(David Marcus)來領導通訊方面的工作，這表明它理解了這一平臺的價值。從那之后，Facebook已開始將支付和與零售商交流的功能整合在Facebook Messenger軟件中。

However, Mr Livingston said Facebook was no longer the preferred destination of teens. “If youare a retailer going after adults you will use Facebook Messenger but every study out thereshows teenagers don’t like Facebook, they have it but they have it in the same way we all havea driver’s licence, he said.

然而，利文斯頓稱，Facebook不再是青少年所青睞的平臺。“如果你是以成年人為目標的零售商，你會使用Facebook Messenger，但是所有研究都表明青少年不喜歡Facebook，他們安裝了該軟件，但是這就像我們所有人都有駕照一樣，他稱。