Alibaba, Jeneration lead $196m round for China's Nice Tuan
Shihuituan, a China-based community group buying platform also known as Nice Tuan, has raised $196 million in the third tranche of a Series C round led by Alibaba Group and Jeneration Capital.
Kunlun Capital, China Capital Investment Group, CDH Investments, GGV Capital, Joy Capital, Qiming Venture Partners, Ince Capital and Cygnus Equity also participated in the round.
This is Nice Tuan's fourth funding round this year and it takes the total capital raised to $496 million up to date. A $88 million Series C led by Joy in January was followed four months later by an $81.4 million extension led by GGV. Then in July, CDH took the lead in a second Series C tranche of $80 million.
Founded in June 2018, the company offers fresh produce through a mini-program on Tencent Holdings' WeChat platform. Each community has a leader who aggregates demand for products and places orders. Customers pick up items from specified places such as convenience stores. Nice Tuan focuses on lower-tier cities where customers have fewer choices, promising next-day delivery.
The company has operations in more than 200 Chinese cities and has 200,000 community leaders serving 20 million family customers. Its gross merchandise value (GMV) reached RMB1 billion million ($152 million) in October alone. Total GMV for the third quarter was RMB2.5 million with five million active monthly users.
Shihuituan has gained traction following its merger with industry peer Niwoning.com - a portfolio company of GGV and CMBC Capital - last August.
Community group buying deals have dropped significantly since the second half of 2019. Many smaller players have either gone bankrupt or been acquired by larger operators.
Recent deals include a $100 million commitment to Tongcheng Life, a group buying business incubated by Hong Kong-listed online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong. Meanwhile, other established players in the fresh produce market continue to raise money, as evidenced by Miss Fresh's $495 million round, which is said to be the largest private round ever seen in the segment.
Cygnus Equity was the exclusive financial advisor for Nice Tuan's latest round.
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