TikTok rival Xiaohongshu expects profit to triple to $3.9 billion
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Built around its eponymous app that is also known as RedNote outside China, Xiaohongshu has 300 million monthly active users.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING – Xiaohongshu Technology is on track to triple its profit to US$3 billion (S$3.9 billion) in 2025, making progress with commercialisation on the way to a potential public listing.
The social media firm recently updated investors on its latest projections for the full year, according to people briefed on the numbers. In the field of visual-based social platforms, Xiaohongshu’s profit forecast is roughly 50 per cent higher than Pinterest’s earnings in 2024 and well ahead of Snap, which has yet to complete a profitable year.
Built around its eponymous app that is also known as RedNote outside China, Xiaohongshu has 300 million monthly active users and a loyal following among users who treat it as their daily source of news and diversions.
The Shanghai-based start-up saw its valuation surge to US$31 billion in recent transactions.
It made a splash in the US at the start of 2025 as an alternative to TikTok at a time when the ByteDance app was under threat of being banned from the country.
It is widely known as China’s best analogue to Instagram, and the company has worked to expand along similar lines. Apart from advertisement sales, the Xiaohongshu app is beefing up its e-commerce offerings via tie-ups with Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com.
Started in 2013 by Mr Charlwin Mao Wenchao and Ms Miranda Qu Fang as a shopping guide for Chinese tourists, Xiaohongshu has since evolved to become the go-to platform for travel reviews and lifestyle tips for a new generation of Chinese smartphone users. That came at the expense of older internet repositories, especially search leader Baidu.
Even with its stellar user growth, investors had expressed some misgivings about Xiaohongshu’s profitability. But over the past few years, the app unlocked new features to allow influencers to peddle goods via live streams or short videos, in a similar vein to TikTok. The company doubled profit to over US$1 billion in 2024, Bloomberg News has reported.
Like many closely held firms, Xiaohongshu is not obligated to disclose its finances, which in turn are not subject to independent audit. But many start-ups share their results with backers and potential investors.
Xiaohongshu, which is backed by HSG, formerly known as Sequoia Capital China, and Alibaba among other well-known names, is one of just a few leading Chinese internet names to remain privately held. BLOOMBERG
