Alibaba buys $215 million stake in US chat app Tango

Alibaba Holding Group's investment in Tango will make it a minority shareholder, Tango CTO and co-founder Eric Setton, has said. The funding would mean that Tango could rapidly scale its infrastructure around the world.

While Alibaba is kicking in the lion's share of the funding, Tango's prior investors are contributing the remaining $65 million, though Tango isn't revealing which ones. Its previous investors include Access Industries, Draper Fisher Jurvetson, Qualcomm Ventures, Toms Capital, Translink Capital, Bill Tai, Shimon Weintraub, Jerry Yang and Alex Zubillaga. In total, Tango has raised $367 million.

Launched in 2010 by French entrepreneur Eric Setton and Israeli entrepreneur Uri Raz, Tango is a video-focused chat app and mobile social network, which is used to make free video calls, like Microsoft Corp.'s Skype and Apple Inc.'s FaceTime, though it has evolved into a broader messaging service with texting, photo sharing and games.

Tango is Alibaba's second deal this year in the US. Earlier a report suggested that Alibaba, through subsidiaries Vendio and Auctiva, will launch an e-retail site known as 11 Main. The marketplace will feature technology items, jewelry, and fashion goods.

Earlier this year, Alibaba it invested $15m in luxury online retailer 1stdibs. Last year, it led a $206m round of investment into ShopRunner, a delivery logistics company.