Guoquan Shihui, a China-based barbeque ingredient retailer backed by packaged food producer Sanquan Food, has raised $50m in series B funding, DealStreetAsia reported today.
Venture capital group IDG Capital led the round, which also featured private equity fund Vision Knight Capital and venture capital firm Buhuo Ventures. The funding details were disclosed through a WeChat post by Vision Knight Capital, according to DealStreetAsia.
Founded in 2017, Guoquan Shihui operates a chain of more than 1,700 convenience stores across eight Chinese provinces and three municipalities selling barbeque and hot pot ingredients.
The company claims it became profitable in 2018 and plans to use the funding to drive an expansion that will increase the number of stores it operates to 5,000. It intends to prioritise moving from first and second-tier cities to smaller areas in 2020.
Other areas in which the series B capital will be deployed include the growth of Guoquan Shihui’s online operation, talent recruitment and the strengthening of its supply chain.
Buhuo Ventures provided approximately $6.4m in series A funding for the company in August 2019 before joining Sanquan Food in a $7m series A-plus round in October, DealStreetAsia reported.
Image courtesy of Guoquan Shihui.
