SoYoung, a China-based cosmetic surgery booking portal backed by internet company Tencent, raised $70m yesterday in a series E round led by private equity firm Orchid Asia Group, according to China Money Network.
BOC International Holdings, the investment banking arm of financial services firm Bank of China, and state-backed private equity vehicle Russia-China Investment Fund also took part in the round, as did venture capital firm Matrix Partners China.
SoYoung operates an online platform enabling users to book cosmetic procedures with more than 25,800 surgeons at 6,600 partnered clinics, and share their experiences with others. It claims to have signed up 25 million users to date.
The money will help SoYoung improve its service, hire additional staff and incubate new businesses exploiting products around artificial intelligence technologies, such as aesthetic evaluation. It was valued at more than $1bn in the round.
SoYoung most recently closed a $29m series D2 round in March this year that was led by Orchid Asia, with participation from Matrix Partners China and Trustbridge Partners.
The company had already secured $60m in series D funding in a December 2017 tranche co-led by Apax Digital and CDH Investments, with commitments from Matrix Partners China and Trustbridge Partners.
Tencent injected $50m in SoYoung in early 2016, after Trustbridge Partners had led a $20m series B round the year before. SoYoung had closed a series A round of undisclosed size backed by Matrix Partners China in 2014.