China-based group buying company Meituan.com is planning to raise $1bn in its forthcoming series E round, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.
The company, which counts e-commerce firm Alibaba among its existing investors, is looking to raise the cash at a $15bn valuation, more than twice the $7bn valuation at which it secured $700m in its January 2015 series D round.
Although Meituan did not disclose the series D investors, sources told the WSJ they included hedge fund Hillhouse Capital and Fidelity Management and Research, which runs financial services firm Fidelity’s mutual funds.
Meituan operates a group buying website where its customer base, which stands at more than 200 million, can find a wide range of discounted goods and services. The company then takes a commission from participating merchants.
The January round increased Meituan’s overall funding to $1.07bn, $300m of which was sourced from a May 2014 round featuring Alibaba, growth equity firm General Atlantic and venture capital firm Sequoia Capital.
Alibaba had already contributed to Meituan’s $50m series B round in 2011, investing alongside Sequoia, Northern Light Venture Capital and Walden International.
The company is looking to raise the money in order to keep expanding its user base, while also fending off well-funded rivals such as Dianping, the online services review and group buying platform that raised $850m in April this year.
Meituan aims to raise the volume of transactions on its platform this year to RMB 100bn ($16.1bn), up from RMB 46bn in 2014.