Chinese video sharing site Youku.com raised a $40 million second round, including $30 million in new VC funding and a $10 million technology loan from Western Technology Investment, the company said, via PEHub. Maverick Capital led the round, and was joined by Brookside Capital, Sutter Hill Ventures, Farallon Capital, and Chengwei Ventures -- all previous investors coming back for more. With the new funding, Youku.com has raised a total of $80 million.
It's the second major funding round for a Chinese video sharing site this year. Tudou.com raised $57 million in venture funds in April. They're two of three sites laying the claim to be the "Chinese YouTube" with varying metrics. The third is 56.com, which has been shut down for weeks.
One thing to say about these would-be Chinese YouTubes, if they can navigate the Chinese government, they're pushing the envelope on advertising harder than YouTube's audience would tolerate. Tudou (SAI 25 #22), in particular, is trying a bunch of different ad schemes on user-generated video, a pre-roll display ad that opens like a curtain before the video starts to play.
Related: VC Dollars Still Pouring Into Video Startups
