BlueCity stays true to its mission as it celebrates 1-year IPO anniversary

The world's first publicly-traded LGBTQ+ platform in the era of mobile internet caps off a year of major milestones

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Jul 08, 2021, 08:30 ET

BEIJING, July 8, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueCity, a world-leading LGBTQ+ community platform providing a full suite of services to foster connection and enhance well-being within the community, is celebrating one year since its landmark IPO on July 8, 2020, when it became the world's first publicly-traded LGBTQ+ social network. Over the past year, BlueCity has continued to advance in its solid growth strategy, with significant achievements in the areas of business and user growth, health services expansion, and public awareness campaigns and initiatives.

"Since our groundbreaking IPO, BlueCity has continued on an upward trajectory, with our platforms today connecting more than 70 million users worldwide, further cementing our leading position," says Baoli Ma, founder, Chairman, and CEO of BlueCity.

"In the past year, we've expanded the scope of the BlueCity portfolio to better serve different LGBTQ+ subgroups, launched a spirited pride campaign, boosBCLTted our health service capabilities, and partnered with UNAIDS to help bring an end to the discrimination faced by members of our community. Moving forward, we will continue to stay true to our mission and better meet the needs of the global LGBTQ community with our products and services."

BlueCity's post-IPO milestones

In 2020, BlueCity acquired LESDO, a location-based social network app for China's lesbian community, and Finka, a leading youth-focused gay social network app. Both acquisitions are part of BlueCity's overarching strategy to serve the many subgroups that make up the broader LGBTQ+ community.

Faced with the challenge of encountering others during the pandemic, Blued, BlueCity's major dating app, launched a series of new features to complement its location-based social networking and livestream services. This includes the live video speed-dating "Meet" feature and the audio-only "Voice Chat Room", which open up different ways to connect, according to users' personal preferences.

Meanwhile, to celebrate Pride 2021, Blued launched the #liveyourpride global campaign to encourage the everyday embrace of values such as inclusion and self-expression, with a host of digital and local market activations enabling the community to connect safely yet together. Besides a new global brand video and a vibrant rainbow UI to commemorate the special month, the app hosted "Blued Nightclub", which leveraged diverse formats to create an immersive and compelling virtual club experience.

Also in June 2021, BlueCity announced that He Health, the brand's health service platform for men, is set to introduce comprehensive online consultation services and expand its PEP (post-exposure prophylaxis) express delivery network in the second half of the year, from 40 Chinese cities to 100. This follows He Health's obtention of an Internet hospital license in April, which enables BlueCity to provide a wider range of services via its own platform.

In the lead-up to World AIDS Day last year, BlueCity donated RMB 1 million to a range of non-profit organizations, to support HIV/AIDS prevention and control efforts within their local communities. This year, for Zero Discrimination Day on March 1, BlueCity partnered with UNAIDS on its #endinequality campaign, supporting a month-long series of awareness-building events aimed at ending LGBTQ+ stigma in the Asia Pacific region.

In the first quarter of 2021, the average monthly active users of BlueCity's portfolio of apps have reached 8.3 million, surging 37.5% year-on-year. Meanwhile, total paying users have reached 640,000, up 47.8% from 433,000 in the first quarter of 2020.

About BlueCity

BlueCity (NASDAQ: BLCT) is a world-leading online LGBTQ platform providing a full suite of services to foster connections and enhance the wellbeing of the LGBTQ community through its portfolio of brands. BlueCity's mobile app Blued enables users to conveniently and safely connect with each other, express themselves and access professional health-related services. Available in 13 languages, Blued connects users in about 170 countries and it is the largest online LGBTQ community in China, India, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. BlueCity's portfolio of brands also includes Finka, a leading gay social networking app for a younger generation in China, and LESDO, a leading lesbian social networking app in China.

Lingling Kong
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Vincent Tang
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SOURCE BlueCity Holdings Limited