Last month, it was reported that ByteDance — the owner of Chinese video-sharing app TikTok — is planning to make Singapore its beachhead for the rest of Asia as part of its global expansion.
The Beijing-based company is looking to spend billions in Singapore, and is also hiring aggressively, as it plans to add hundreds of jobs over the next three years.
ByteDance already has a presence here in Singapore. They had set up their Singapore team in a WeWork coworking office in December 2018.
To facilitate its expansion plans, the tech giant has just signed an agreement to lease three floors at One Raffles Quay, according to people familiar with the plan.
A Bigger And Better Office
Spanning over 60,000 square feet, the new ByteDance office is located in a prime spot in Singapore’s Central Business District.
According to The Straits Times, the new office is being refurbished and it’s likely that employees will move in by the first quarter of next year.
The Chinese tech firm’s move coincides with the plans of other tech giants amid the US-China tech race.
For one, Tencent Holdings also declared that it will pick Singapore as its beachhead for Asia as it pivots away from US and India.
Bigo — whose apps Likee and Bigo Live compete directly with TikTok — has also announced that it would be moving its servers from Hong Kong to Singapore.
The World’s Most Richly Valued Startup
The Chinese technology startup is currently the most valuable startup in the world at US$140 billion (S$190.08 billion).
ByteDance is chaired by billionaire Zhang Yiming, who has a net worth of US$16.2 billion (S$22 billion), according to Forbes.
Following setbacks in India, the UK and US, Bytedance will make use of this move to take their social media services deeper into Asia.
It also plans to expand beyond TikTok, and has other products like business messaging service Lark and music streaming service Resso.
Featured Image Credit: Al Jazeera
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