36Kr

36Kr Holdings Inc. is a Chinese media and business services company that has become a pivotal platform for China's New Economy participants. The company was founded in December 2010 by Liu Chengcheng, who started it as a tech blog while he was a university student. Joined by co-founders Jason Zheng and Jian Hu, Liu evolved the platform from a simple media outlet into a comprehensive ecosystem. The initial blog, focusing on new apps and gadgets, quickly gained traction, leading to an early investment from one of Baidu's founders. This early success was built on Liu's passion for technology, which began with him teaching himself to code at age 12. A significant milestone was reached on November 8, 2019, when 36Kr held its initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker KRKR, raising approximately $20 million.

The company's business model is multifaceted, designed to serve a wide range of clients including startups, TMT giants, traditional corporations, institutional investors, and government bodies. Revenue is generated through three primary streams: online advertising, enterprise value-added services, and subscription services. Enterprise services, which include integrated marketing, consulting, and offline events, have become a major contributor to the company's revenue. Subscription services provide individuals and institutional investors with access to premium content and data. 36Kr operates on a freemium model, offering basic content for free while charging for more in-depth reports and data analytics.

The core of 36Kr's offering is its high-quality, New Economy-focused content, which spans news articles, industry reports, and market analysis across sectors like technology, consumer retail, and healthcare. This content attracts a large readership, which the company leverages to offer its business services. A key product is Jing Data, a subscription-based database for the venture capital and private equity markets, launched in 2016. The company also helps startups with branding, financing, and strategy through initiatives like the "36kr startups backing plan." To further support the startup ecosystem, 36Kr launched Kr Space in 2014, a business incubator that later spun off into an independent co-working space provider. The company's international presence includes KrASIA, an English-language platform, and 36Kr Japan, a partnership with Nikkei, to bridge China's tech scene with the rest of the world.

Keywords: tech media, New Economy, startup services, venture capital database, business news, financial information, enterprise services, online advertising, subscription services, integrated marketing, consulting, China startups, KrASIA, Jing Data, Liu Chengcheng, Nasdaq KRKR, co-working space, business incubator, tech journalism, investment platform