Sequoia Capital China Buys Discounted Stake in Prominent E-Commerce App

Sequoia Capital China recently acquired a stake in Chinese social e-commerce app Xiaohongshu from existing investors at a discount to the company’s most recent equity financing valuation, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

Sequoia China, which is preparing to separate from Silicon Valley’s Sequoia Capital next year, bought the Xiaohongshu shares earlier this year in multiple transactions at a valuation of $14 billion, 30% below the startup’s $20 billion paper valuation in an equity funding in late 2021, these people said. Prior to those share purchases, Sequoia China didn’t own a stake in Xiaohongshu (pronounced as Shao-Hong-Shoo), which has been described as a Chinese mashup of Instagram and Pinterest.