China Growth Capital, TDF invest in e-commerce marketplace DHGate

The size of the round wasn't disclosed but it amounts to several hundred millions of renminbi.

Shutong Wang, former CEO of Joyo.com, set up DHGate shortly after Joyo was acquired by Amazon.com in 2004. The wholesale marketplace is the smaller rival to Alibaba Group's B2B site, helping Chinese merchants access overseas customers. DHGate now has 1.2 million registered Chinese suppliers on its platform, selling 25 million types of products to about 5.5 million buyers in 224 countries and regions.

The company raised a reported RMB200 million ($32 million) Series C round in early 2010.

Most of the new capital will go towards expanding operations in emerging markets such as Russia and South America, as well as mobile commerce technology upgrades. Wang told local media that the firm plans to set up a mobile product development and research team in Silicon Valley.

Wayne Shiong, partner at China Growth Capital, foresees explosive growth in cross-border e-commerce in the next five years. DHGate, which has consolidated its market leading position after 10 years operation, will benefit for this dynamic.

Leading players Alibaba, Amazon and eBay also focus on cross-border e-commerce opportunities in China. EBay partnered with PayPal to enable Chinese merchants to open shops online and sell Chinese-made products to US consumers. Amazon wants to export directly to the Shanghai Free Trade Zone, giving Chinese consumers direct access to US-made products.

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• Topics
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