Chinese GPs back sports marketing player Mailman

The extension brings the company's Series A round to $18 million, following a RMB100 million ($15 million) commitment from We Capital – a venture arm of Chinese local movie ticketing platform Mtime.com – as well as sports ticketing platform Wesai.com in September. The lround values Mailman at approximately $65 million, according to Andrew Collins, the company's CEO. 

Mailman was founded in 1999 as an alternative media company, providing niche marketing services to Chinese enterprises. Collins bought the business after moving to China from Australia in 2007. He transformed it to focus on sports digital marketing and consulting, helping foreign and domestic teams and leagues gain popularity in China.

The company posted EBITDA of RMB20 million last year and it is already turning a net profit. Mailman hopes to leverage the relationships and resources of Yao Capital and Kaixing to scale up its business, with a view to launching an IPO by 2020.

Yao Capital was co-founded by Chinese former NBA star Yao Ming, his business partner Erik Zhang, and David Han, previously a managing director of The Carlyle Group. The firm focuses on growth and buyout sports investments in China as well as overseas. Previous deals include Glory Sports International, Formula E Holdings, and Weisai.com.

Beijing-headquartered Kaixing concentrates on sport, education and entertainment sectors. Last year, the GP launched a RMB10 billion sport-focused fund in partnership with Chinese property developer Kaisa Group.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Early-stage
• Media
• Consumer
• China
• TMT
• Consumer
• Growth capital