GLP leads $36m round for China’s Songxiaocai

The investment - described as the first tranche of a Series B round - also features IDG Capital, Matrix China Partners, and Puhua Capital. The proceeds will be used to add more product verticals, improve cold chain logistics systems, and develop financial products for suppliers and retailers.

Songxiaocai was founded in 2014 by Lingbing Yu, who previously launched a rural e-commerce business on Alibaba Group’s Taobao platform. Once retailers place an order through the app, the produce is sourced from suppliers and delivered to nearby warehouses. The company claims its services now cover 45 cities including Wuhan, Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing.

Songxiaocai received seed funding from John Wu, a co-founder of Alibaba Group, in 2015, and a Series A round worth RMB104 million from IDG, Puhua Capital and Vision Plus Capital the following year. Subsequent to that, it received RMB85.15 million in an extended Series A round from Yintai Capital, Matrix, and IDG.

GLP was privatized last year by a consortium that includes Hopu Investment and Hillhouse Capital. The company is a frequent investor in start-ups that have some relevance to its core business. In December, GLP co-led a $70 million round for G7 Networks, a Chinese manufacturer of smart devices for the logistics sector.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• Greater China
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Technology
• China
• TMT
• GLP
• IDG Capital Partners
• Logistics
• Matrix Partners
• Growth capital