Alfilo Brands, a China-based cultural intellectual property (IP) holder backed by quantitative trading firm Susquehanna International Group (SIG), has closed a $16m series A-plus round, 36Kr reported yesterday.
Venture capital firm Sequoia Capital China led the round, which also featured investment firm Zephyr Capital. It came in the wake of a $7.5m series A round led by SIG subsidiary SIG China in August 2017 that was announced in November, valuing the company at $45m.
Founded in 2013, Alfilo has obtained the IP rights to cultural items owned by museums and galleries such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Fine Arts Boston in the US, and the National Gallery, British Museum and Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK.
The company can then make reproductions of works to sell to customers in China in addition to importing replicas and selling them offline or online. It also has IP deals in place with US-headquartered businesses like Amazon, Estée Lauder and L’Oréal.
An entity known as Xinyixin Intellectual Property Services joined VC fund Peeli Ventures to provide an undisclosed amount of seed capital for Alfilo in 2016 according to Eastmoney. The latest funding will go to acquiring additional IP and boosting headcount in China and internationally.
