E-commerce group Alibaba has co-led a $196m series C3 round for China-based community buying platform developer Nice Tuan with investment firm Jeneration Capital, DealStreetAsia reported today.
Kunlun Fund, CICC Capital, CDH Investments, GGV Capital, Joy Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Ince Capital and boutique investment bank Cygnus Equity also took part in the round, for which Cygnus was also financial adviser.
Also known as Shihuituan, Nice Tuan operates a community-focused e-commerce platform that allows customers to band together through social media platform WeChat in order to buy fresh produce, packaged foods and beverages in bulk to secure discounts.
The company serves customers in some 200 cities across China and counts roughly 20 million families among that customer base, according to DealStreetAsia.
The round is the fourth to be closed by the company in 2020 and it intends to channel the proceeds into helping small and medium-sized brands and produce supplier partners extend their sales capabilities.
ZhenFund, Qiming Venture Partners and Joy Capital provided approximately $14.6m for Nice Tuan in mid-2018 and returned for an $88.3m round in January this year that included Alibaba, China Growth Capital and Ince Capital.
GGV Capital led the company’s $81.4m series C1 round in June, before CDH Investments led an $80m series C2 round the following month, investing together with GGV Capital, Ince Capital, and China Minsheng Bank’s CMBC International subsidiary.
