China-based, community-focused e-commerce platform Nice Tuan has secured $88.3m in funding from investors including e-commerce group Alibaba, DealStreetAsia has reported.
Venture capital firms Qiming Venture Partners and China Growth Capital, VC fund ZhenFund and investment firms Joy Capital and Ince Capital also contributed to the round.
Founded in April 2018 and also known as Shihuituan, Nice Tuan runs an online platform that sells products such as food, household goods and cosmetics through a model that allows customers to link together along local lines in order to access bulk discounts.
The company claims to have 10 million families in a customer base that currently spans 60 Chinese cities. It intends to channel the funding into upgrading its technology and supply chain capabilities in addition to entering lower-tier cities in its home country.
Nice Tuan merged with Niwoning, a GGV Capital and CMBC Capital-backed counterpart that sells products such as groceries through a WeChat app and brick-and-mortar convenience stores, in August 2019.
ZhenFund, Qiming Venture Partners and Joy Capital had previously provided approximately $14.6m in funding for Nice Tuan in August 2018.
