Yiguo, the China-based fresh food delivery service that counts appliance manufacturer Suning and e-commerce group Alibaba among its investors, has entered the bankruptcy stage, China Money Network reported on Friday.
Founded in 2005, Yiguo runs an online platform where customers in some 310 Chinese cities can order fresh produce. It maintains a regional network of cold chain logistics centres and offers one-day delivery in cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu.
Although some parts of the e-commerce sector have done well as traditional shops have been forced to shut during the coronavirus pandemic, fresh produce-focused e-commerce platforms have made notable losses for some time.
Yiguo subsidiaries including Yunxiang Supply Chain and Anxianda have filed for bankruptcy-related reorganisation, and the company as a whole has debts of roughly RMB2.3bn ($342m), according to domestic media reports cited by China Money Network.
Alibaba subsidiary Tmall supplied the company’s last disclosed funding, investing $300m in 2017, less than a year after Suning led a $200m series C-plus round that included Alibaba and private equity firm Yunfeng Capital.
Alibaba and investment firm KKR had provided a reported $260m for Yiguo in a 2016 series C round, two years after Alibaba and Yunfeng Capital had invested an undisclosed amount.
The company had already secured tens of millions of dollars from Alibaba in 2013, and China Money Network puts the company’s overall funding at about $890m.
Yiguo’s rivals in the sector include Tongcheng Life which raised $200m in series C funding in June this year, and Hongjiu Fruit, which pulled in approximately $71m through its own series C round in December 2019.
