Sogou

Beijing, China Founded: 2004 • Age: 22 yrs Listed Acquired By Tencent
Provider of an AI-driven keyword-based search engine

About Sogou

Sogou is a Technology company based in Beijing (China) founded in 2004 by Xiaochuan Wang, and was acquired by Tencent in September 2020. Provider of an AI-driven keyword-based search engine. Sogou has raised $448 million across 1 funding round from investors including Tencent. Its chief executive, as recorded, is Xiaochuan Wang. Its website sogou.com draws about 21.7 million monthly visits. Its focus areas include Consumer, Search Engines and Keyword Based Search Engines.

Company details

Sogou was founded in 2004 in Beijing, China, as a provider in the internet search sector. An AI-driven keyword-based search engine is operated, enabling searches for text, images, music, and maps. Web applications are utilized to classify online content including music, pictures, and video clips. Desktop applications are developed to enhance user experience through optimization features.

  • Headquarters Beijing, China
  • Founders Xiaochuan Wang
  • Stage Acquired
  • Sectors
    Technology
  • Website category Computers Electronics and Technology · Search Engines
  • Website sogou.com
  • Social LinkedIn
  • Acquired by Tencent (Sep 2020)
Key Metrics
  • Total Equity Funding
    $448M (USD)

    in 1 rounds

  • Latest Funding Round
    $448M (USD), Private Equity Round

    Sep 2013

  • Investors
  • Acquired by
    Tencent

    (Sep 2020)

Funding Insights of Sogou

Sogou has successfully raised a total of $448M through 1 strategic funding round. The most recent funding activity was a Private Equity Round of $448 million completed in September 2013. This substantial capital infusion reflects strong investor confidence in the company's business model, growth potential, and market opportunities. The funding enables strategic expansion, product development, market penetration, and operational scaling to drive long-term value creation and competitive advantage.

  • Total Funding $448M
  • Total Rounds 1
  • Last Round Private Equity Round β€” $448M
  • First Round $448M

    (Sep 2013)

  • Investors Count 1

All 1 funding rounds of Sogou with amounts and investors; the two latest post-money valuations are shown, the rest are part of the premium plan.

DateAmountTransaction NameValuationLead InvestorsInvestors
Sep 2013$448MPrivate Equity Round–Tencent
–
Valuation history

1 investors in total: 1 institutional.

Investors in Sogou

Sogou has secured backing from 1 investor, including institutional investors. Prominent investors backing the company include Tencent.

All
Institutional
InvestorDescriptionFounded YearDomainLocation
Value-added internet, mobile, and telecom services are provided in China.
1998tencent.comShenzhen, China
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Investor details for Sogou

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People of Sogou

30 people are tracked at Sogou (8 in leadership, 6 in board & advisors, 16 in team).

NameRoleGroup
Xiaochuan Wang
Founder & CEOLeadership
Gang Li
Vice PresidentLeadership
Zhong Tian
Chief Financial OfficerLeadership
Hongtao Yang
Chief Technology OfficerLeadership
Faith Song
Executive Marketing DirectorLeadership
Su Xuefeng
Technical DirectorLeadership
Michael He
Financial DirectorLeadership
Tao Hong
Chief Marketing OfficerLeadership
Joanna Lv
DirectorBoard & advisors
Janice Lee
Independent DirectorBoard & advisors
Charles Zhang
ChairmanBoard & advisors
Bin Gao
Independent DirectorBoard & advisors
Jinmei He
Independent DirectorBoard & advisors
Yu Yin
DirectorBoard & advisors
Wenlu Bai
Senior Software Test Development EngineerTeam
Cheng Weiyan
Tax ManagerTeam
Bo Liu
Software EngineerTeam
Liyong Chen
Ad-tect Software EngineerTeam
Yingying Ye
Big Data Software EngineerTeam
Yuran Yang 杨雨然
Machine Learning R D EngineerTeam

10 more people are available in the full profile.

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Timeline of Sogou

4 dated milestones of Sogou across 16 years, from founding to its latest funding, stage changes and deals.

  1. Founded Sogou is founded.
  2. Funding First funding round of $448.0M.
  3. IPO Lists on the stock exchange (IPO).
  4. Exit Acquired by Tencent.

Web traffic of Sogou

The website of Sogou (sogou.com) receives about 21.7M visits a month and ranks #1,789 among all websites worldwide, #312 in Search Engines.

  • Monthly visits
    21.7M

    ▼ 13% vs previous month

  • Unique visitors
    6.5M

    per month

  • Global rank
    #1,789

    among all websites

  • Category rank
    #312

    Computers Electronics and Technology · Search Engines

Similar websites

Websites whose visitors overlap most with Sogou. Affinity shows how closely the audiences match.

WebsiteDomainAudience affinityMonthly visitsGlobal rankProfile
baidu.com
100%
1.9B#17View details
youdao.com
89%
11.2M#5,042View details
soso.com
soso.com
84%
#113,843–
so.com
83%
54.3M#784View details
msn.cn
msn.cn
77%
#5,400–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’β€’.comβ€’β€’%β€’.β€’M#‒‒‒‒‒–
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All 40 similar websites and full traffic analytics for Sogou

The complete similar-websites list, audience overlap and engagement analytics require an active premium plan.

  • 40 similar websites
  • Audience overlap
  • Engagement analytics
  • Traffic by brand

Verified entity values are shown only after access is granted.

Top companies in Search, Discovery & Knowledge Tools

2 companies that operate in the same segment as Sogou (Search, Discovery & Knowledge Tools) in China, ranked by their profile score on The Company Check.

CompanyDescriptionFoundedLocationTotal fundingRevenueEmployees
AI-enabled keyword-based search engine is operated for information retrieval.
2000Beijing, ChinaUSD 101.2 MUSD 18.5 B41,300
Online media, search, and gaming services are offered by Sohu.com.
1996Beijing, ChinaUSD 158.77 KUSD 585.88 M4,300
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Related news about Sogou

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Frequently Asked Questions about Sogou

Sogou was founded in 2004 and raised its 1st funding round 9 years after it was founded.

Sogou is headquartered in Beijing, China.

Xiaochuan Wang is the CEO of Sogou, as recorded in our data. They have also founded this company.

Sogou is a funded company, having raised a total of $448M across 1 funding round to date. The company's 1st funding round was a Private Equity Round of $448M, raised on Sep 2013.

Sogou was founded in 2004 in Beijing, China, as a provider in the internet search sector. An AI-driven keyword-based search engine is operated, enabling searches for text, images, music, and maps. Web applications are utilized to classify online content including music, pictures, and video clips. Desktop applications are developed to enhance user experience through optimization features.

Sogou has 1 investor. Key investors include Tencent.

Yes. Sogou was acquired by Tencent in September 2020.

The website of Sogou receives about 21.7 million visits a month and ranks #1,789 among all websites worldwide.

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