China-based digital retail technology provider Dmall has closed a RMB2.8bn ($419m) series C round featuring internet group Tencent, napkins and nappy producer Hengan International and electronics producer Lenovo, DealStreetAsia reported today.
The round was co-led by the government owned China Structural Reform Fund and financial services firm Industrial Bank, the latter through an equity investment platform.
Futian Guiding Fund, Tianya Capital and IDG Capital also took part in the round, as did CMB International, a subsidiary of China Merchants Bank, while Lenovo participated through corporate venturing unit. Lenovo Capital.
Dmall runs a mobile app with 18 million monthly active users that allows customers to buy consumer items from a range of brick-and-mortar stores, including 120 retail chain partners.
About $150m of the series C proceeds have been earmarked for research and development as Dmall looks to enhance its user experience and develop new offerings such as a retail-focused intelligent internet-of-things platform, according to co-founder and president Zhang Feng.
The company also plans to leverage Tencent’s online retail and payment tools, such as WeChat Pay, to boost its business.
The round comes two months after Bloomberg reported that Dmall was seeking up to $600m in funding at a $2bn valuation. IDG Capital led a $100m round for the company in 2015 and added an undisclosed amount of funding two years later.
Shenzhen Investment Holdings supplied a similarly undisclosed amount for Dmall as part of a March 2018 cooperation agreement, and DealStreetAsia today identified Tencent and CMB International as existing investors, Tencent having backed a series B round in 2018.
