16:28Machine-translated from Azerbaijani by AIRead in Azerbaijani
Azerbaijani Startup Keepface Expands to China After Plug and Play Selection Across 25 Countries
Keepface, an influencer marketing platform founded by three people in Baku in 2017, has officially registered a company and opened a bank account in China.
The company was admitted to the program after passing a selection process spanning 25 countries conducted by the California-based Plug and Play accelerator.
Keepface was registered in the Nantong Economic and Technological Development Area (NETDA) in China’s Jiangsu province. Plug and Play’s cross-border acceleration program in Nantong launched in July. The program lasts 6 months, and the NETDA technology park provides selected startups with one year of residency, office space and accommodation.
Co-founder Elshad Yusifli says the Chinese office’s primary role is to bring influencers in China to the US, MENA and European regions.
Emin Vəli draws attention to another side of the matter: “The platform will help Chinese brands localize abroad, connecting them with the right content creators, audiences and markets. According to Vəli, international expansion is not translation work. You need to understand local culture, trends and communities, and that is exactly what influencer marketing is for.”
Company co-founder Vagif Abbasov described the move as the next stage of its expansion plan. Keepface’s Chinese office will not serve only the Chinese market:
“From here, we plan to expand into South Korea, Japan, Indonesia and other major markets in the region. It truly feels special that the journey we began with 3 people in Azerbaijan 9 years ago has brought us to China today. We are still at the beginning of the journey. We have bigger goals ahead and, of course, more work.”
Keepface’s success is no coincidence. After Baku, the platform first established a formal structure in the United Arab Emirates and operated from the AstroLabs technology hub in Dubai. In 2017, it held Influencer Day Baku, an event that brought brands and influencers together in Baku. In 2018, it organized the Global Influencer Day conference at the Heydar Aliyev Center, where the robot Sophia also took the stage. In 2019, it was one of 14 startups selected for the third cohort of MENA Dojo, 500 Startups’ Series A program. It later registered in the US. China is the next step in this string of successes.