China online grocer Benlai raises extended Series C round

The extension brings Benlai's the round to $117 million, following a $100 million commitment in January. At the time, Shenzhen-listed home appliance maker Joyoung invested $30 million for a 3.82% stake in the start-up. Other new backers included China Urban Realty Association, Shanghai Nan Du and domestic PE firm ChinaEquity Group. CDH Investments and Integral Group also re-upped.

The round valued the start-up above $785 million but less than $1 billion, Huafeng Yu, Benlai's founder, told Tencent QQ News.

Operated by Kindler's Information Technology, Benlai was launched in 2012. It provides imported and locally-grown food including fruit, seafood and meat. The company has built three warehouses in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and offers cold chain logistics services in 22 Chinese cities. The start-up recorded RMB268 million ($41 million) in revenue and a net loss of RMB208 million in 2014.

Banyan Capital and CDH Investments together provided around $40 million in Series A funding in February 2014. This was followed by a Series B round from an undisclosed Chinese agriculture and consumer-focused VC firm.

The company plans to use the proceeds of the latest round to strengthen its supply chain, improve logistics efficiency, and expand into other cities in China.

In March, KKR and existing strategic investor Alibaba Group invested in a Series C round of funding for Yiguo, an online fresh-food e-commerce platform. Prior to that, Fruitday, an e-commerce site dedicated to selling imported fruit, raised a $70 million round led by online retailer JD.com.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Venture
• Consumer
• Expansion
• China
• Venture
• TMT
• Consumer
• CDH Investments Management
• Growth capital
• Integral Corp.