New wave of startups fish users with APPS

Young entrepreneurs are challenging traditional Internet moguls by using apps to lure a booming generation of mobile Web users.

After having failed in starting a web business twice in the past 10 years, 34-year-old Wang Liang dipped his toes into the mobile Internet business. This time, he hit pay dirt. Within two years, Wang's Yhouse, a Shanghai-based app that targets China's middle class, offering them luxury-lifestyle experiences, has attracted about 2.8 million users. It achieved a revenue of nearly 100 million yuan in 2014, since its launch the previous year. "If I had moved into the field earlier or later, I wouldn't have made it. It's the right time to be in the mobile Web business," says Wang.

Wang is one of countless young startup innovators who have poured into the mobile Web business in recent years as China sees a booming generation of mobile Web users. Young entrepreneurs in their early 20s or 30s are taking their chances in challenging the traditional Internet moguls to help users solve daily-life problems with new apps.