China-based online antiques marketplace Wanwu Dezhi has completed an $80m series C round featuring, United Media FOFs, a fund of funds backed by media company United Media, DealStreetAsia reported today.
Venture capital firm Source Code Capital co-led the round with investment bank China Renaissance’s Huaxing New Economy Fund, and it included VC firm GGV Capital. United Media FOFs also counts several government-guided funds among its backers.
Founded in 2018, Wanwu Dezhi operates an online platform with more than 42 million registered users that can buy antiques such as art and jewellery from merchants. It was launched in March 2019 and generates up to $149m in purchases each month.
The company employs about 500 qualified appraisers to help buyers assess the value and authenticity of items, and is aiming to quantify an industry that is at present still relatively new in China.
The series C funds will be allocated to strengthening Wanwu Dezhi’s core platform and upgrading its customer service capabilities, in addition to increasing headcount and improving employee training.
Wanwu Dezhi has not revealed how much it had raised in earlier rounds, but this is its fifth according to DealStreetAsia. It comes after Source Code Capital led an eight-figure dollar round in April this year, and the startup’s earlier backers include GGV, China Renaissance’s K2VC vehicle and ZhenFund.
