• by Alex Weprin , December 10, 2018

ByteDance, the Chinese tech company that owns the fast-growing social video app TikTok, wants to raise approximately $1.45 billion.

The company plans to use the cash in its venture fund, investing in media assets and artificial intelligence technology. 

The company raised $3 billion earlier this year, in a round led by Japan’s SoftBank.

ByteDance, currently valued at more than $75 billion, is hot in China, but it is just beginning to make its mark elsewhere. TikTok is its biggest effort yet to break into the North American market.

TikTok has quickly become one of the most popular video apps on both iOS and Android, allowing users to upload videos of themselves overplayed with music, graphics, and other content. 

It isn’t immediately clear what other media concepts interest ByteDance. In China, it operates a news aggregator and another social video platform. However, as the company seeks international expansion, other concepts are likely in the pipeline, seeking to piggyback onto TikTok’s success.