Alibaba, Legend invest $20m in China seafood importer Gfresh

The company will use the new capital to upgrade its logistics and supply chain services and improve its online operation, in addition to expanding into new markets, according to a blog post. Alibaba and Legend will also join the board at Gfresh.

Founded in 2014, the company imports seafood from global sources and sells it to local distributors through its online business-to-business (B2B) marketplace. It claims to beat its competitors in the stringency of its import controls and promises full transparency and traceability in its supply chain. The company claims to have generated sales worth $200 million in gross merchandise value since its launch.

Following the investment Gfresh will pursue a number of new initiatives, including collaborations with Legend-backed online-to-offline distribution business You Shi Guan Jia and Alibaba's e-commerce site Tmall, which already offers users fresh seafood delivery. The company is also a member of Regs Group, a Chinese seafood import agent that provides logistics services in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou.

Interest in online fresh food distributors in China has grown in recent years following a number of food safety scandals, and several of the country's online giants have gotten in on the game. Alibaba and KKR backed seafood and fruit importer Yiguo in March, and JD.com led a $70 million round for online fruit retailer Fruitday last year. In addition, Tencent backed online grocer Miss Fresh in 2014.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Early-stage
• China
• TMT
• Alibaba Group
• Legend Capital
• Venture