Hanting Hotels says that its first round of financing has just ended with five venture capital companies making a total investment of US$85 million.

The five investors are CDH Venture Partners, IDG-Accel China Growth Fund, Chengwei Ventures, Northlight Venture Capital and PinPoint Capital. A representative from Hanting Hotels says this is the largest amount of investment that the company has received in recent years, but it involves the smallest percentage of shares.

This is the third time that IDG has cooperated with Hanting Hotels. Zhang Suyang, a partner of IDG, has told local media that Hanting's great potential and its mature management team are the two main reasons that have attracted them to make the investment. IDG estimates that Hanting will expand more rapidly and its market share will be further enlarged.

Ji Qi, founder, president and CEO of Hanting Hotels, believes that this amount of investment will enable Hanting Hotels to grow at a faster rate.

At present, Hanting Hotels has signed up to 100 hotels in about 30 cities in China. Hanting will use the investment to develop its two brands of Hanting Business and Hanting Franchise and may launch other brands in the future.