APUS Group, a Beijing-based Android app development company, has raised $100 million in Series B funding. Chengwei Capital, SIG and Qiming Venture Partners were joined by return backers Redpoint Ventures and Northern Light Venture Capital.

Apus Group, an Android application development company that focuses on creating products and services that enhance the mobile experience for users worldwide, announced that it has raised $100 million in a Series B round of financing led by Chengwei Capital, SIG and Qiming Venture Partners. Series A investors Redpoint Ventures and Northern Light Venture Capital also participated. Apus Group is based in Beijing, and was founded in June, 2014.

APUS Group, a seven-month-old Chinese company that develops Android utility apps for the global market, has confirmed that it has raised $100 million in new funding. The company’s Series B round, word of which got out in China earlier this month, will be used to develop new services and grow its reach in global markets like the U.S., Brazil, India and Russia.

Another week, another huge deal for an innovative Chinese tech company.

Recently, App Annie, the well-known data provider of mobile application analysis, released its November 2014 application index. The report pointed out the emergence of lightweight applications, which have become especially popular in emerging markets. With 100 million users, the APUS Launcher has become one of the top 10 mobile applications worldwide, which ranked No.1 among all launcher products.

If you’ve got an Android device, you may have heard of the APUS Group. The company’s Android launcher app broke 30 million users late last month, and it recently rolled out a pretty major update too. But what you may not know is that while APUS is jointly based in the US and China, its founder Tao Li comes from the world of China tech, and previously served as a vice president at Chinese web security firm Qihoo 360. I recently had a chance to catch up with Mr. Li and ask him about how his experiences at Qihoo helped shape APUS and where he sees his new company headed next.

Google’s new Lollipop release has been heralded by many as a sign of the increasingly sophisticated design of Android, but despite that advancement there still exists a feeling that Apple’s iOS is the most aspirational mobile platform on the planet. But, with a new iPhone 6 costing upwards of $750 off-contract, many consumers — and particularly those in emerging markets where operators don’t subsidize devices — don’t have much of a choice about their operating system.

Chinese company Apus has released its pared-down Android launcher to massive international success. But it's doing it without focusing on the Chinese market. We sat down with founder Li Tao to find out why.

From Xiaomi’s expansion in India and Southeast Asia; to the expansion of Qihoo 360 in emerging markets; to WeChat’s strategic use of local celebrities and representatives in Southeast Asia to promote its product; to Cheetah Mobile and Go Launcher’s localization efforts in North America. Within the past two to three years, an increasing number of top Chinese Internet companies have begun to focus their energies on overseas markets. Why is this?

Readers may have heard about the resignation and subsequent entrepreneurialism of Tao Li, a former Vice President of Qihoo 360, who created a desktop launcher called APUS that is geared towards overseas markets outside of China. In the public’s view, this type of mobile application was not a trending product—so why did a former executive of Qihoo 360, in charge of the corporation’s international business, choose to focus on it? Below, a Sohu IT journalist interviews Tao Li on these very topics.

After the resignation of Tao Li, the former Vice President of Qihoo 360, the public has been wondering about his recent actions, until now. Recently a mobile Launcher called APUS has been “leaked” in connection with Tao’s entrepreneurial activities.

Android users who are interested in Launcher Applications and International APP markets may already know about APUS Launcher. It’s been available on Google Play as a Personalization APP for less than three months and it’s already been top ranked in over 30 countries and ranked Top 5 in 50 countries around the world.