Dayima has raised $30 million to track your menstrual cycle

Menstruation-tracking apps might not seem like like a goldmine waiting to be unearthed, but in China, investors are hedging their bets on them.  Dayima, a period calendar app and women’s social network, just closed a $30 million series C round, backed by Ceyuan Ventures, Sequoia Capital China, and Bertelsmann Asia Investments. Prior to this round the company raised rounds worth US$10 million and US$5 million from its three current backers. Those are hefty sums  for a souped up calendar app. For comparison’s sake, rival app Meiyou netted $15 million in funding a few months ago. Glow, its highest-profile Silicon Valley analogue, raked in US$6 million in funding in August 2013, but hasn’t reported new rounds since then.

Dayima, a Chinese app for period-tracking and women’s health in general, announced today $30 million in a third round of institutional funding. The money comes from Sequoia Capital China, Ceyuan Ventures, and Bertelsmann Asia Investments. So far in the past year, the company has raised three rounds that total $45 million: $5 million from Bertelsmann and ZhenFund in April 2013 and $15 million led by Sequoia and joined by the earlier two investors. Launched in January 2012, Dayima claims it has had 45 million registered users and 3.2 million daily active users. Its direct competitor in China is Meet You, which has raised two rounds of funding in less than a year. The two apps had a battle royale earlier this year. After two reports by two Chinese research firms showed Meet You had more users than Dayima, the former was accused of inflating numbers in various ways. Dayima didn’t confirm the accusation, and all proof that emerged later on was issued by Dayima.