Fresh food e-commerce platform Yiguo receives USD 300 M for financing
Yiguo
Founder: Jin Guanglei
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: RMB 2 billion (USD 300 million) for financing in 2017
Fresh food e-commerce platform, Yiguo, received USD 300 million in financing on August 3rd to integrate its service with Tmall.com’s online supermarket.
Over the past few years, most traditional businesses have begun to utilize online technology, like online sales and education. However, there is a unique business that is truly in-demand, but has taken years to move online–the fresh food business. A few companies have tried to integrate fresh food with online e-commerce, but most of them failed due to the logistical obstacle of keeping the food fresh during delivery. However, some companies have come up with the solution of building warehouses and distribution centers in cities across China so that they can deliver fresh food to customers within a single day.
Yiguo is a fresh food e-commerce platform that provides customers with a range of fresh food in most of China’s first- and second-tier cities. It manages each step of the food procurement process, cold-chain quality control, order processing, and food distribution.
Founded in 2015 in Shanghai, currently its services cover more than 200 cities in China. It has established 11 cold-chain logistics basements in 10 cities, including Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu. For some cities nearby the cold-chain logistics basements, customers can receive their orders within a single day. However, cities further away have to wait for overnight delivery.
Yiguo previously grabbed funding from Alibaba and the global investment firm, KKR. This new financing round was from Tmail.com, which will support Yiguo with its capital and resources to help Yiguo develop an efficient cold-delivery chain system. Additionally, Tmall will work with Yiguo to integrate its online supermarket with its fresh food e-commerce platform to boost Yiguo’s business.
Traditional Chinese medicine clinic chain Gushengtang receives USD 150M for Series D
Gushengtang
Founder: Xuzhiliang
Founded in: 2010
Financing status: RMB 1 billion (USD 150 million) for Series D financing in 2017
Traditional Chinese medicine clinic chain, Gushengtang, received USD 150 M for Series D on August 3rd to recruit more doctors and open new clinics.
Gushengtang is a traditional Chinese medicine clinic chain that provides patients with traditional Chinese medicine services, including massage, moxibustion, acupuncture, Chinese medicine for internal and external treatment, and other forms of therapy.
Founded in 2010 in Guangzhou, it has opened 29 subsidiary branches across China. Patients who paid social security can get free medical care or medical expense reduction on its branches. Currently, it has acquired more than 1500 traditional Chinese medical experts, and more than five million patients enjoy its medical services annually.
This Series D financing round was from an undisclosed group of investors. The capital will be used to open more clinics in China to expand its business. Additionally, it provides an innovative stock equity structure to its doctors, who receive a portion of the clinic’s profits, in addition to prescription drug revenue sharing and free stock options. It aims to acquire more experts through this structure.
（Top photo from 58pic.com）