Xiaohongshu is selling old shares, with a valuation of 350 billion yuan.

Amazing.

The situation is as follows: Recently, the investment community learned at a communication meeting of a leading US dollar fund that the institution quietly sold some of its old shares in Xiaohongshu at a valuation of $50 billion (about RMB 350 billion) by the end of 2025.

Before this, the well - known valuation of Xiaohongshu in the circle was about RMB 220 billion.

In the past few years, we have witnessed several times the scenario where investors scrambled for Xiaohongshu's old shares. A landmark moment was in 2024 when the Financial Times reported that Xiaohongshu sold its old shares at a valuation of $17 billion. At that time, the figures of DST Global, Sequoia China, Hillhouse, Boyu Capital, and CITIC Capital emerged.

Behind the popularity of the old shares, the venture - capital circle is waiting for this super IPO to ring the bell.

Xiaohongshu's Counter - attack: Investors Queue up to Buy Old Shares

Xiaohongshu's valuation has repeatedly refreshed the outside world's perception.

Recall that last year, Bloomberg reported that according to the investment portfolio report of the GSR IV fund under GSR Ventures as of the end of March 2025, Xiaohongshu's overall valuation could be calculated to be $26 billion (about RMB 180 billion).

Subsequently, the investment portfolio document of the same fund as of the end of June of that year showed that Xiaohongshu's valuation reached $31 billion (about RMB 220 billion).

Previously, the valuation of Xiaohongshu's old shares was $20 billion when they were transferred in January 2025; even earlier, in July 2024, the valuation was $17 billion when the old shares were sold.

In the past few years, the primary market as a whole has faced pressure on valuations, but Xiaohongshu has been rising against the trend.

Especially in the old - share market, Xiaohongshu's popularity is obvious to all. As of the end of 2025, the valuation of Xiaohongshu's old - share transactions reached $50 billion. Although it was not a public - market financing and a single old - share transaction cannot fully represent Xiaohongshu's overall valuation, the changes in the secondary - hand trading truly reflect the fluctuations in the primary - market valuation.

An early investor in Xiaohongshu told us, "In the past few years, Xiaohongshu has maintained high attention in the old - share market, and the liquidity is really very good." The person frankly said that there are also plans to exit some old shares this year. Affected by the fund's term, some Xiaohongshu investors will choose to sell some old shares at a good price to secure their profits.

The investment community also learned that a well - known consumer investment institution recouped over RMB 1 billion by selling Xiaohongshu's old shares in the past year, earning the largest return in recent years.

Xiaohongshu's rising valuation stems from its outstanding performance in recent years.

At the beginning of 2025, Xiaohongshu witnessed a surge in users. Along with the "TikTok refugee wave", a large number of overseas users flocked to it, and Xiaohongshu once reached the top of the US App Store rankings. Data as of mid - 2025 showed that Xiaohongshu's monthly active users (MAU) had exceeded 350 million, and the average daily usage time per user exceeded 74 minutes.

A commonly cited figure when talking about Xiaohongshu's revenue is that Xiaohongshu's overall profit doubled in 2024, exceeding $1 billion, and it is expected to reach an astonishing $3 billion in 2025. Of course, this figure has not been officially confirmed.

From the perspective of investors, with a significant increase in Xiaohongshu's MAU higher than expected, the valuation naturally rises.

Investors Behind Have Made Big Profits

This may be the last phenomenon - level company in the mobile - internet era.

Especially in today's enthusiastic atmosphere of the widespread development of AI, the unlisted Xiaohongshu has become a rare "pearl left in the sea" in the mobile - internet field.

Recall that in 2013, Xiaohongshu was born in Shanghai, and its first office was in a residential building on Fuxing Middle Road in Shanghai. When Mao Wenchao and Qu Fang jointly founded this initial "shopping - guide community", they probably never expected what it would be like today. As Zhu Xiaohu, the managing partner of GSR Ventures, once recalled in an interview, "Xiaohongshu was very inconspicuous at the beginning."

In terms of time, Xiaohongshu did not have an advantage. It was born in the late stage of the internet dividend. Platforms with social attributes such as WeChat and Weibo had already established their positions in the market, and then Douyin quickly emerged. It was not until the period from 2017 to 2020 that Xiaohongshu really "broke out of the circle", and its monthly active users climbed to 200 million. However, by then, short - video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou had entered the mature stage, surrounded by fierce competition. No one expected that Xiaohongshu would eventually break through the encirclement.

So far, the investors who have accompanied the company through the TMT era have been silently waiting for the final moment.

Looking back, the lineup of investors behind Xiaohongshu is luxurious, and they have a deep - seated connection with Xiaohongshu. ZhenFund is Xiaohongshu's angel investor. Fang Aizhi, a partner of ZhenFund, is an alumnus of Mao Wenchao at Stanford University. After returning to China, Fang Aizhi introduced him to Xu Xiaoping, and the investment was quickly finalized.

Fang Aizhi once said, "Mao Wenchao is one of the founders we invested in who most wants to do something big. He really wants to build a company worth over $10 billion."

The investment story between GSR Ventures and Xiaohongshu is better known to the public. Zhu Xiaohu once said, "At that time, we signed the Series A investment agreement and allocated some quotas to brother funds. The legal documents were all prepared except for the money transfer, but they didn't invest. We took over all of them and invested." Zhang Yutong, who was still at GSR Ventures at that time, led multiple rounds of investment in Xiaohongshu. However, later, the dispute between Zhu Xiaohu and Zhang Yutong became a big deal.

GGV Capital was the lead investor in Xiaohongshu's Series B financing. Around 2011, Tong Shihao, the managing partner of GGV Capital, interviewed Mao Wenchao. "I interviewed more than 20 American MBAs over the phone. Mao Wenchao was the most outstanding one in my eyes that year." Later, Tong Shihao and Li Haojun from the team led the investment in Xiaohongshu in November 2014.

In March 2016, Xiaohongshu completed a $100 million Series C financing, led by Tencent, co - invested by Tiantu Capital and Yuansheng Capital. After the investment, the valuation reached $1 billion, and since then, Xiaohongshu officially entered the unicorn club.

Among them, Mao Wenchao once said to Peng Zhijian, the founding partner of Yuansheng Capital, "As long as you want to invest, you're always welcome." In early 2016, Peng Zhijian and Mao Wenchao had a four - hour in - depth conversation in Hong Kong and then participated in this round of financing.

Sequoia China entered the game precisely in the middle and late stages. In 2023, Xiaohongshu's valuation dropped back to about $14 billion, lower than the peak in 2021. Sequoia China made an investment and further increased its holdings in the subsequent transfer of Xiaohongshu's old shares.

In addition, there are also Alibaba, K11 Investment, Temasek, Hillhouse, CITIC Capital, DST, etc., with a luxurious lineup.

It seems that as long as they wait patiently, the investors who made firm investments back then will all welcome a feast of returns.

Waiting for the Super IPO

When will Xiaohongshu go public? The venture - capital circle is eagerly looking forward to it.

In recent years, the rumors about Xiaohongshu's listing have never stopped. In March 2021, Yang Ruo, a former Citigroup executive, joined Xiaohongshu and officially took up the position of CFO. This move was regarded by the outside world as a signal that Xiaohongshu was planning to go public at that time, but the IPO did not happen as scheduled that year.

Since then, rumors about Xiaohongshu's IPO have appeared almost every once in a while.

In July 2024, Xiaohongshu sold its old shares at a valuation of $17 billion (about RMB 120 billion). At that time, the outside world once interpreted it as some investors seeking to exit by selling old shares in the face of the uncertainty of the IPO.

But soon, the Financial Times reported again that Xiaohongshu intended to list in Hong Kong. Xiaohongshu responded that it would communicate with the capital market periodically but had no clear IPO plan for the time being.

Time came to 2025. At the beginning of the year, Xiaohongshu leased space in Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. This is not only an ideal foothold for vigorously expanding its overseas business but also inevitably makes people associate it with a potential Hong Kong IPO.

Amid everyone's expectations, there is always a voice that cannot be ignored: in the content - ecosystem context, Xiaohongshu's e - commerce business seems insufficient to support its high valuation.

In August last year, Xiaohongshu announced a major internal adjustment: the establishment of the "Grand Business Division", with COO Conan as the general in - charge. This person with a deep - seated community background began to be fully responsible for Xiaohongshu's commercialization. The integration of commercialization and e - commerce business is considered to be an optimization of the financial model before the IPO.

In any case, once it goes public, Xiaohongshu is bound to create a grand feast.

Just like ByteDance, which is highly anticipated by the public, almost everyone is waiting for its bell - ringing moment that will be recorded in the history of the venture - capital circle. Last year, Today Capital, led by Xu Xin, bid nearly $300 million for ByteDance's old shares, corresponding to a valuation of about $480 billion.

That vibrant TMT era is still waiting for a perfect ending.

This article is from the WeChat public account “Investment Circle” (ID: pedaily2012), author: Yang Jiyun. Republished by 36Kr with permission.