China cross-border e-commerce platform raises $30m
Bolome, a Shanghai-based cross-border e-commerce platform, has raised a $30 million Series B round of funding from Chinese and South Korean investors including search engine Baidu, LB Investment, Share Capital and Chengwei Capital.
KB Investment and Neoplux, two existing backers from South Korea, also participated. The round, which values the company at over $200 million, brings its total funding to $43 million.
Bolome was set up in February. It sells cosmetics, childcare products, snacks and home appliances imported from overseas, including Japan and South Korea, directly to Chinese consumers at competitive prices. The company has also launched an online channel that shows staff visiting offline stores to introduce products and interview customers.
Bolome has forged partnerships with over 60 suppliers in Japan and 10 in South Korea. It claims to have built a local team with 80 people in these two markets.
The start-up received RMB10 million ($1.6 million) in angel funding from Chengwei and Vickers Venture Partners in March, and then raised $30 million in Series A round of funding led by LB Investment.
As part of the deal, Bolome will allow Baidu to get access to all of its retail products information and Baidu will promote those products on its search engine platform, Bolome told 36kr.
In September, Baidu led a $150 million Series D round of funding for Chinese childcare-focused cross-border e-commerce platform Mia.com. The partnership has seen Mia get access to Baidu's big data analytics in order to reach target customers, while Baidu will set up a cross-border online payment system on Mia.
More on Greater China
Latest News
Asian GPs slow implementation of ESG policies - survey
Asia-based private equity firms are assigning more dedicated resources to environment, social, and governance (ESG) programmes, but policy changes have slowed in the past 12 months, in part due to concerns raised internally and by LPs, according to a...
Singapore fintech start-up LXA gets $10m seed round
New Enterprise Associates (NEA) has led a USD 10m seed round for Singapore’s LXA, a financial technology start-up launched by a former Asia senior executive at The Blackstone Group.
India's InCred announces $60m round, claims unicorn status
Indian non-bank lender InCred Financial Services said it has received INR 5bn (USD 60m) at a valuation of at least USD 1bn from unnamed investors including “a global private equity fund.”
Insight leads $50m round for Australia's Roller
Insight Partners has led a USD 50m round for Australia’s Roller, a venue management software provider specializing in family fun parks.