Asia's richest man Li Ka-shing invests in Facebook app Bitstrips

IF YOU were hoping that Bitstrips would disappear from Facebook you won't be happy to hear that Asia's richest man has just invested in the app.

Li Ka-shing

IF YOU were hoping that Bitstrips would disappear from Facebook you won't be happy to hear that Asia's richest man has just invested in the animated app.

After Li Ka-shing's Horizons Ventures disclosed it had invested in Bitstrips, a Facebook app that allows you to create cartoons of yourself, an avatar appeared on the firm's website which seemed to depict Mr Li himself.

While it has Mr Li's thick-rimmed glasses, the avatar looks much younger than the 85-year-old Mr Li.

The Wall Street Journal reports that no one has confirmed the identity of the avatar but the avatar to the right is Solina Chau, a director of the Li Ka-shing Foundation.

Horizons Ventures would not comment on its investment or how much money it was putting behind the app.

Mr Li favours high-profile tech investments. He bought a $US60 million stake in Facebook in 2007 through his personal foundation, as well as investments in music streaming service Spotify, social traffic and navigation company Waze, and newsreader app Summly.