Kuaishou, the social video platform backed by Tencent, and already a unicorn startup, is targeting RMB 30 billion (USD 4.36 billion) in revenue as well as profitability this year, according to Chinese news outlet Jiemian.
The bulk of its revenues are expected to come from live streaming and advertising.
The latter is growing rapidly but accounts for a smaller share of income: Advertising is expected to generate several billion yuan this year, and Kuaishou surfaces about two-to-three ads per day in its app.
Live streaming, on the other hand, is growing so strongly Kuaishou foresees no problems in reaching its revenue target. Like other live streaming platforms, Kuaishou makes money from live streaming by taking a cut of tips and virtual gifts given by audiences to broadcasters.
The company also eyeing e-commerce sales — currently, about 10% of its live broadcasters also sell goods through the platform — though revenue here has not yet reached a large scale.
In 2018, Kuaishou attained a breakeven off RMB 20 billion (USD 2.91 billion) in revenue. Last October, the company was reportedly raising funds at a USD 25 billion valuation (RMB 172 billion) and had 150 million daily active users at the time.
Meanwhile, Jiemian reports that Kuaishou competitor Douyin is targeting yearly revenue of more RMB 50 billion (USD 7.21 billion) stemming mostly from advertising and supported by a more than 12,000-person ad sales team.
