Chinese streaming startup (Netflix of China) iQiyi is planning to raise $2.25 billion in IPO at $18/share

The Chinese streaming startup, also known as The Netflix of China, iQiyi Inc., is planning its U.S. initial public offering at $18 per share in a deal that is expected to generate more than $2 billion. The company will list its share on Thursday on the Nasdaq under the symbol “I.’  iQiyi, formerly Qiyi, is an online video platform based in Beijing, China launched on April 22, 2010 by Baidu, China’s largest online search engine. The company has raised a total of $1.9 billion in funding.

IQiyi currently has around 50 million subscribers. It also launched a large copyright procurement plan to create a comprehensive copyright content database covering movies, TV dramas, variety shows, documentaries, animation and travel, and other content. The company also enables brands to maximize their ROI with the SWS (Search-Watch-Share) model.

Launched on April 22, 2010, as Qiyi, the company received investment funds from Baidu and Providence Equity Partners. On November 26, 2011, Qiyi announced its rebranding with the iQiyi brand name and a new logo. As of August 2012, iQiyi had over 370 million PC users, with a total monthly time spent of over 1,374 million hours, along with 90 million activated mobile users. Unlike Netflix, which makes the vast majority of revenues from subscriptions, 37.6 percent of iQiyi’s revenues in 2017 came frommembership service fees. iQiyi’s major competitors include Youku.com, Tudou.com, and PPTV.