Tencent owns WeChat and was founded in Shenzhen in 1998.
Tencent Holdings is a Chinese technology and entertainment company founded in Shenzhen in 1998 by Pony Ma and several co-founders. Its businesses include social networking, online games, digital content, advertising, cloud computing, and financial technology. WeChat, known as Weixin in mainland China, became one of the company’s most important products.
Tencent launched WeChat in 2011. The app developed from messaging into a broad platform supporting voice and video calls, social feeds, payments, mini-programs, commerce, and public-service functions. Its combination of communications and embedded services is a major reason it is often described as a super-app.
Tencent is frequently confused with Alibaba Group because both are major Chinese technology companies. Alibaba is especially associated with e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and Tmall, while Tencent is especially associated with WeChat and gaming. The companies are separate and have different founding histories.