WATERLOO - The company behind WeChat, the popular messaging app that has 600 million users, is investing $50 million US in Waterloo-based Kik Interactive to help make Kik the "WeChat of the West."

The strategic investment by Tencent, a leading provider of Internet services in China and the creator of Weixin (WeChat) was announced Tuesday.

The funding will be used to double Kik's size as it continues to build its platform of services and experiences for youth across North America.

Kik, which currently has 100 employees, has headquarters in Waterloo and offices in New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

The goal for Kik is to make the "chat" application about a lot more than just chat.

In China, for example, WeChat can be used to scan a soda pop machine, select the item and pay for it with the app. Or, if you want to print a picture, it can be used to start "chatting" with the printer, send it a picture, and the picture comes out.

Kik has the potential to do the same with its platform and is developing its strategy for building a similar "ecosystem" with the Internet of Things in North America.

"What we are trying to do in North America mirrors what Tencent has already done in China," said Mike Roberts, head of chat for Kik.

"They have built a fantastic ecosystem and a platform where people can chat with services and have engaging experiences. We see the same opportunity unfolding in the United States, so we want to be a part of that."

Kik grew rapidly after launching its chat app about five years ago and now has more than 240 million users.

But it is competing against much larger players, including Facebook, which bought Whatsapp for $22 billion last year.

With the latest investment, Kik has a valuation of about $1 billion.

In April, Kik said it had hired an investment bank to explore its options, including a possible sale, but the company says it is not for sale and is committed to remaining independent and based in Waterloo.

In a written statement about why the company took the $50-million investment, Kik chief executive Ted Livingston said Tencent not only understands chat deeply and has resources, but it was also prepared to support Kik in running independently to grow in the U.S.

The process toward partnering with a larger company began about a year ago, when Kik's board suggested that such a partnership might give Kik an advantage in winning the chat race, Livingston said in the statement.

"At first I was hesitant. I was confident we could win the race alone. But, keeping in line with Kik's principle of considering all the options, I eventually agreed to take a look," he said.

Livingston has said he wants to grow Kik into the "We Chat of the West."

He said he looked at every major company Kik could partner with, and at the pros and cons for each. "Right from the start, Tencent was at the top of the list," he said.

Roberts said the partnership makes sense for both Kik and Tencent.

There are many competitors in the chat space, but it is not easy for an app to break out of its own regional area, Roberts said. "You really need to understand what the regional market is like," he added.

"They saw Kik as one of the only companies in the West that really understands chat as a platform that will be driving where mobile is going over the next couple years," Roberts said. "So they are backing us in the United States as the best way to win the messaging game overall."

In China, consumers use WeChat not only to connect with friends, but also to book taxis, shop, pay utility bills, play games, and follow celebrities, opinion leaders and brands. Kik said it has similar aspirations to build a chat-based ecosystem around its stronghold of American youth.

Roberts said the partnership can help Kik work out its strategy for how to do that. "There is a lot of learning that they bring along, in terms of how they executed on their platform and how they built out their strategy . it will be useful in informing our strategy," he said.

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But Kik will remain independent, Roberts said. "This is an investment that builds a partnership and a foundation for us to work together, but Kik will still be Kik."

The focus will remain on the youth market, he added. Seventy per cent of Kik's 240 million registered users are 13 to 24. About 40 per cent of U.S. teens use Kik.

Roberts said Kik will be aggressively hiring in Waterloo over the coming year. "It is a big investment for the community as well," he said. "We love being in Waterloo."