Vertex leads $50m round for China’s Guoxiaomei

This is the first funding round for Guoxiaomei after it merged with rival service Fanqiebianli three months ago. Existing investors IDG Capital and BlueRun Ventures also re-upped, Limin Yan, founder and CEO of the company, told a local event. He said the second tranche of the Series C would close imminently.

Launched in June, Guoxiaomei has raised more than RMB500 million ($76 million) across three rounds. IDG provided seed funding to the company and then co-led a $10 million Series A round alongside BlueRun one month later. Vertex also participated. A Series B round was reportedly completed in November.

Guoxiaomei supplies snacks to offices by installing smart shelves on the premises. Member customers scan product barcodes and payments are settled online. Fanqiebianli operated under a similar business model. Prior to the merger, the two companies both received backing from VC investors such as BlueRun and IDG.

With the new investment, Guoxiaomei plans to introduce more unmanned vending machines, goods shelves, and small convenience stores. It will also increase its product offerings.

Chinese media reported that more than 30 start-ups operating in this space have received VC funding in the past few months. But the industry has been consolidating through M&A. For example, in October, Shanghai-based Xing Bian Li, a VC-backed new retail company that integrates online and offline distribution channels, acquired industry counterpart 51 Snackbar.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Expansion
• Consumer
• Technology
• Growth capital
• BlueRun Ventures
• IDG Capital Partners
• TMT
• China
• Vertex Management (II)
• Venture