In 2017, Su Hua, the founder of a Chinese startup called Kuaishou Technology, was on the verge of closing the biggest deal of his career: the acquisition of a fledgling video service that would become TikTok. But arch-rival ByteDance Ltd. swooped in with a better offer, and Su missed out on what has become a global sensation.
Now, the 38-year-old entrepreneur is getting some payback. In February, Kuaishou went public in Hong Kong, raising more than $5 billion (¥550 billion) on the strength of its booming video and commerce operations. ByteDance, meanwhile, tangled with the U.S. government and then became ensnared in China’s tech crackdown, likely delaying its own initial public offering.
Su isn’t wasting a moment. Flush with cash from the IPO, Kuaishou is cranking up spending to close the gap with ByteDance, more than four times its size. Kuaishou plans to expand in countries like Brazil and Indonesia, rather than TikTok’s stronghold in the U.S. The company intends to double its global squad to 2,000 by year’s end to accelerate the roll-out of its international products.