Meituan.com, the China-based group buying website backed by e-commerce company Alibaba, raised $700m in series D funding yesterday from undisclosed investors at a $7bn valuation.
Founded in 2010, Meituan initially provided a daily deals service similar to US-based Groupon, but has since expanded to a group-buying e-commerce model that is focused on services rather than physical goods.
Meituan raised $300m in May 2014 from Alibaba, General Atlantic and Sequoia Capital, after securing $50m from Alibaba, Northern Light Venture Capital, Walden International and Sequoia in 2011, and $20m from a Sequoia-funded series A round in 2010.
The company has around 20 million active daily mobile users and expects transaction volumes to reach RMB 100bn ($16.1bn) in 2015 and RMB1trillion by 2020. As of August 2014, it had secured more than 50% of China’s group buying market, according to a report by market research company Eguan.
Meituan is planning an initial public offering in future, chief executive Wang Xing confirmed in a press conference, though it is unlikely to take place either this year or in 2016.