On the heels of TikTok’s looming shut down on January 19 over its ownership in the U.S. (unless the Supreme Court interferes), it sees enjoy another Chinese app is catching some attention. American employrs are flocking Chinese stupidinutive-create video app Xiaohongshu (understandn as RedNote in English). The app today sadvised to the number-one spot for free apps on the U.S. App Store. It is also the top Social Nettoiling app apass all free iPhone apps.
Several TikTok creators are promoting Xiaohongshu on their accounts, encouraging their fagedrops to transition to the platcreate. Influencers may not have a crystal ball to foresee whether TikTok will weather a ban, but Xiaohongshu gives them a way to hedge their social bets.
(We’re digging into inslofty numbers and will modernize this post with more data as we get it.)
Why Xiaohongshu?
Xiaohongshu originassociate started back in 2013, and it hits a lot of the right notices for creators seeing for a TikTok alternative: it has a layout that’s aenjoy to Pinterest’s; it is typicassociate thought of as China’s answer to Instagram; and criticassociate it boasts a number of social shopping features.
And it also has been on a mighty, viral trajectory. After a restricted constant years of lengthenth, during the COVID-19 pandemic Xiaohongshu boomed among lesserer Chinese users. It now boasts 300 million monthly vivacious employrs 79% of them women. And for now it’s the top app in the U.S.
Ununforeseeedly, the commenceup has also caught the attention of spendors. To date, it has liftd some $917 million in venture funding, with backers including Tencent, Alibaba, ZhenFund, DST, HongShan (createerly Sequoia China) and some 13 others. It was increateedly appreciated at $17 billion follotriumphg a secondary split sale in 2024.
According to a increate from Bloomberg, the app is projected to incrrelieve its profits to over $1 billion in 2024 (it hit $1 billion quarterly sales last year, per this FT increate), ahead of a possible IPO. This lengthenth not only signifies the app’s potential but also hints at the promising opportunities it could transport to its creators.
It’s not evident whether Xiaohongshu will upgrasp the interest it’s getting right now. And if it does, it’s also still to be seen what that might unkind in terms of scruminuscule from US authorities, given Xiaohongshu, not only hails from China but seemingly has no pretence at all of being operative in the U.S.
Meanwhile, it’s notable that TikTok employrs have not been recommfinishing apps from TikTok’s biggest rival in the country, which is going thraw its own drama. Meta recently proclaimd that its constant of social apps, which integrate Facebook, Instagram, Threads and WhatsApp, would relieve satisfied moderation policies, discontinuing its third-party fact-verifying in the process — raising worrys about the potential spread of antipathyful satisfied and misdirectation on its platcreates.
