MissFresh, the China-based online grocer backed by internet group Tencent, has closed a funding round of undisclosed size at a valuation in excess of $3bn, 36Kr has reported.
The round included CICC Fund, a subsidiary of investment manager China International Capital Corporation.
News of the round’s completion came shortly after Bloomberg reported MissFresh had agreed $300m in dollar-denominated funding and between RMB1bn and RMB1.5bn ($140m to $210m) in renminbi-denominated investment, with a third tranche yet to be closed.
Founded in 2014, MissFresh runs an online platform with almost 25 million monthly active users that sells fresh fruit and vegetables it supplies to customers through a network of about 1,500 distribution centres across China.
The online grocery sector in China and elsewhere has benefitted from an uptick in business as greater numbers of customers order online during Covid-19 lockdowns.
Tencent co-led a $450m round for MissFresh in 2018 with investment banking firm Goldman Sachs’ Investment Partners fund, taking part alongside Jeneration Capital Management, Tiger Global Management, Sofina, Davis Selected Advisers, Poly Capital, Glade Brook Capital and China Renaissance.
The company secured $230m in a September 2017 series C-plus round co-led by Tiger Global Management and Genesis Capital that also featured Tencent.
MissFresh had received $100m eight months earlier in a series C round co-led by consumer electronics manufacturer Lenovo’s Capital and Incubator Group and Zhejiang Zheshang Venture Capital. It included Tencent, KTB Investment & Securities, Grand Flight Investment and China Growth Capital.
Yuanyi Capital and China Growth Capital had provided $36m in series B-plus funding for MissFresh in 2016, following a $31m series B led by Tencent in 2015 that also featured Zheshang Venture Capital Management and unnamed additional participants.
Tencent and GX Capital reportedly supplied $10m for the company earlier the same year through a series A round.
