Alibaba fund leads $10m Series A for Hong Kong's Grana
Hong Kong-based online fashion start-up Grana has raised a $10 million Series A round led by the Alibaba Group's Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.
Existing investors Golden Gate Ventures and MindWorks Ventures also participated, the company told TechCrunch. Grana will use the new capital to expand its selection of products and to enter new geographical regions. It also wants to further build its business in the US, already its largest growth market.
Grana markets clothes under its own brands in 12 countries, shipping from a central warehouse in Hong Kong and aiming to deliver within two days. It has an offline store in Hong Kong and has opened temporary stores in other markets. Managers believe Grana's centralized distribution model helps them maintain efficiency and keep prices low.
In its seed round last November led by Golden Gate, Grana raised $3.5 million. AVCJ Research's records show MindWorks took part in that round as well, along with Bluebell Group. Golden Gate and Bluebell also participated in a $1.5 million round for the company in July 2015 along with 500 Startups.
Alibaba launched its Hong Kong and Taiwan entrepreneur funds last year; the Hong Kong fund is worth HK$1 billion ($129 million) and is managed by Gobi Partners. Other investments by the vehicle include GoGoVan; the firm participated in a Series C round for the logistics start-up in May led by New Horizon Capital.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.