Yiguo.com, the China-based operator of an e-commerce platform for fresh food, has raised $200m in a series C+ round led by appliance distributor Suning Commerce Group, China Money Network reported today.
E-commerce group Alibaba and Yunfeng Capital, the private equity firm founded by Alibaba chairman Jack Ma, also took part in the round, as did unnamed additional investors.
Founded in 2005, Yiguo provides fresh food to customers in 310 Chinese cities and operates an extensive range of cold-chain logistics facilities. Suning intends to integrate part of Yiguo’s offering with Suxiansheng, the fresh food distribution business it formed in 2015.
The round follows a series C round featuring Alibaba and investment firm KKR that was closed by Yiguo in March this year.
The size of the series C round was not disclosed but a spokesperson described it as the largest amount so far raised by any online fresh produce retail company. Competitor Womai had already raised $220m in an October 2015 round.
The series C+ round comes after Alibaba agreed to pay $4.6bn for a 20% stake in publicly-traded Suning in August 2015, in a deal that also involved Suning buying a 1.1% stake in Alibaba.