Chinese online fabrics trader Baibu raises $30m

Existing investors Yunqi Capital, Chengwei Capital, and Source Code Capital also took part. Much like the extended Series B round – which closed at $25 million in 2017 – the proceeds will go towards scaling up the business and improving the efficiency of its supply chains.

Founded in 2014 by a core team whose members previously worked for the likes of Alibaba Group, Meituan-Dianping, and Vipshop as well as for leading groups in the textiles industry, Baibu connects textile manufacturers and buyers. The company, which is already in profit, works with more than 4,000 top-tier suppliers and 100,000 garment manufacturers, according to a Source Code statement.

The suppliers have released 20,000 products across 300 categories – with 2,000 new products launched each week – so Baibu has created a fabric information database that makes it easier for buyers to find what they want. The company has also established a warehousing system customized to the sales trends in different cities.

China's textile industry was worth over RMB10 trillion ($1.46 trillion) in 2015, with nearly 5,000 fabric suppliers producing about three million types of fabric, according to China's National Textile and Apparel Council. The upstream and downstream ends of the supply chain are scattered, so it takes from 2-3 days to 1-2 weeks for cloth to reach manufacturers. At the same time, the multi-level distribution network means cumulative price increases of 30-60% while product quality can be inconsistent.

"The upstream and downstream supply chains in the textile and garment industry are long and scattered, with low market concentration, low efficiency, high supply chain costs, and trillions of renminbi in output value," said Wenbo Li, a senior partner at Bull Capital. He added that Baibu, as a leading player in the B2B space, is well-positioned to drive up efficiency and transaction volumes.

Bull Capital's previous investments in B2B trading platforms include Zhaogang, which serves the steel industry. The company has raised more than $300 million in private funding and filed for an IPO in Hong Kong earlier this year.

Baibu received angel funding and a Series A round from Source Code in 2015 and 2016, respectively. This was followed by an initial Series B worth over $10 million and led by Chengwei.

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• Topics
• Greater China
• Technology
• Industrials
• Expansion
• China
• Bull Capital
• Source Code Capital
• Chengwei Ventures Shanghai
• TMT
• manufacturing