Cross-border e-commerce player Wish gets Series H
Wish, a US-based cross-border e-commerce app backed by several Asian investors, has achieved a valuation of $11.2 billion following a Series H round led by General Atlantic.
This compares to a valuation of around $8.7 billion in 2017, which closely followed a round of undisclosed size led by Everbright-IDG Industrial Fund and a round led by Temasek Holdings said to be worth $500 million. The company was reportedly seeking $300 million for the Series H.
Wish was founded by former Google and Yahoo employees with a view to connecting Chinese merchants – especially those selling products on Alibaba Group’s Taobao and Tmall – with consumers in the US and Europe. The company plans to use its latest funding to expand its merchant footprint in Europe and North America and improve logistics.
As of 2018, Wish claimed to have more than 80 million monthly users and one million merchants. The company sells about one billion products annually. Recent growth initiatives include a program called Wish Local, which develops partnerships with brick-and-mortar retailers. It allows online shoppers to collect purchases at cooperating physical stores, which will in turn benefit from increased foot traffic.
“Wish is a category-defining business that helped pioneer mobile commerce and discovery shopping, and it has the opportunity to continue providing solutions that address the real needs and preferences of hundreds of millions of value-conscious consumers around the world,” Tanzeen Syed, a managing director at General Atlantic, said in a statement. “We are excited to partner with Wish as it continues to build on its market-leading position and create an enduring global marketplace business.”
Additional investors in the company include CEL Venture Capital, DST Global, Founders Fund, Third Point Ventures, and Chinese retail giant JD.com, as well as Formation 8 Partners, GGV Capital, and Legend Capital, which contributed to a $50 million Series C in 2014.
Earlier rounds were supported by Acequia Capital and AME Cloud Ventures, a firm led by Yahoo co-founder Jerry Yang. US-based XG Ventures backed an angel round in 2011 and continues to count the company in its portfolio.
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