LinkedIn Corp. established its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore and plans to set up a Japan office later this year, as the company seeks to grow its regional footprint.
The headquarters will serve as a gateway for regional expansion and support LindkedIn's existing operations in Australia and India, the company's Asia Pacific managing director, Arvind Rajan, said Tuesday. But it was unclear how the company plans to overcome some of the obstacles that have hindered other social-networking services in the region.
The company, which operates professional networking website LinkedIn, went public in the U.S. earlier this month in the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc.'s debut in 2004, valuing it at $4.25 billion. Its share price more than doubled on the first day of trading, pushing LinkedIn's value up to $8.9 billion and setting the stage for potential debuts from other Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Groupon Inc.
LinkedIn, which has more than 100 million members, makes money from online advertising, premium subscriptions and hiring tools for recruiters. The company generated $243 million in revenue in 2010, but it has warned that revenue will slow and it will be unprofitable in 2011 as it invests in technology and international growth.
Asia Pacific accounts for more than 18 million members, and the company already has a "significant presence" in Australia, India and Singapore, Mr. Rajan said.
"According to [research firm] Comscore, from March of last year to March of this year, we grew 130% in [Asia Pacific]...we think that by having a presence here, by expanding our footprint in Asia, we think we'll see continued sustained growth," he said, but declined to give detailed growth targets.
The company currently has about 50 employees in Australia and India, and plans to hire a dozen people initially in Singapore, where they will focus on sales and marketing operations.
Japan is a priority market this year, though Mr. Rajan said the market could pose some obstacles. Japan's professional culture emphasizes modesty and being discreet, which could counter some of LinkedIn's self-promotional appeal. But Mr. Rajan said the company was encouraged by the popularity of Twitter there, especially among professionals.
LinkedIn is also considering expanding into China, where it already has more than one million members. But he didn't address some of the problems that have bedeviled Facebook, Google and others there. LinkedIn isn't blocked by China's Internet censorship efforts.
"We're looking at it carefully, and thinking about whether it makes sense to get into the Chinese market, and if so, how," Mr. Rajan said.
The headquarters will serve as a gateway for regional expansion and support LindkedIn's existing operations in Australia and India, the company's Asia Pacific managing director, Arvind Rajan, said Tuesday. But it was unclear how the company plans to overcome some of the obstacles that have hindered other social-networking services in the region.
The company, which operates professional networking website LinkedIn, went public in the U.S. earlier this month in the biggest Internet IPO since Google Inc.'s debut in 2004, valuing it at $4.25 billion. Its share price more than doubled on the first day of trading, pushing LinkedIn's value up to $8.9 billion and setting the stage for potential debuts from other Internet companies such as Facebook Inc. and Groupon Inc.
Asia Pacific accounts for more than 18 million members, and the company already has a "significant presence" in Australia, India and Singapore, Mr. Rajan said.
"According to [research firm] Comscore, from March of last year to March of this year, we grew 130% in [Asia Pacific]...we think that by having a presence here, by expanding our footprint in Asia, we think we'll see continued sustained growth," he said, but declined to give detailed growth targets.
The company currently has about 50 employees in Australia and India, and plans to hire a dozen people initially in Singapore, where they will focus on sales and marketing operations.
Japan is a priority market this year, though Mr. Rajan said the market could pose some obstacles. Japan's professional culture emphasizes modesty and being discreet, which could counter some of LinkedIn's self-promotional appeal. But Mr. Rajan said the company was encouraged by the popularity of Twitter there, especially among professionals.
LinkedIn is also considering expanding into China, where it already has more than one million members. But he didn't address some of the problems that have bedeviled Facebook, Google and others there. LinkedIn isn't blocked by China's Internet censorship efforts.
"We're looking at it carefully, and thinking about whether it makes sense to get into the Chinese market, and if so, how," Mr. Rajan said.
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