Yqphh.com, or Pinhaohuo or “fighting for good stuff”, a fruit selling platform which combines fruit selling with social network platforms including Wechat, raised USD 50 million in a B-series financing from Banyan Capital and IDG on Tuesday, boosting its valuation to USD 480 million, Iyiou.com reports on Wednesday, a Chinese O2O business website.
In a previous interview Marketing Director of Yqphh.com told the new media that Banyan Capital and IDG invested USD eight million in a Series-A financing.
The platform, founded in April 2015, is one of a number of pioneers who have attempted to combine social networking with purchasing. Consumers are to share products with their families and friends, and then make a group-buying order at a lower price.
A group-buying order at the platform takes at least three to five people, which means users will at least recommend two to four new users to the platform.
Users are constantly creating value for the company, putting pressure on the company to guarantee the quality and freshness of fruits, and also the speed of delivery. Once those needs are met, a good reputation flies around, bringing with it bigger user groups.
CEO of the company, Huang Zheng, previously worked at Google America before following Kai-fu Lee to found Google’s China Research Institute.
Before starting yqphh.com, Huang was involved in the gaming business, which later gave him the inspiration to begin yqphh.com. Sharing products with other people with a simple retweet gives you a reward. This is like a game for customers.
According to data provided by Yqphh.com, the company has attracted around 10 million Wechat users spread throughout China. Its app was released in July 2015.
Marketing Director Wu says that they have been learning from leading retailer Costco in strictly controlling inventory stocks and guaranteeing half of fruit is gathered from places of origin. Recently, the platform has tried to sell salmon and steaks among other meat and seafood products.
(Top photo from Baidu Images.)
