China cross-border shopping platform gets $15m

Launched in 2011, 55Haitao works with more than 3,500 retailers globally - including Amazon.com, Drugstore.com and GNC.com - to offer products relevant to Chinese audiences. The company generates 5,000-10,000 orders every day, with sales exceeding $150 million in 2015, according to its founder and CEO, Alan Gu.

With 90% of traffic originating in China, 55Haitao is positioned as a channel through which retailers can reach Chinese customers. The site has an interactive function, featuring more than 20,000 user-generated posts daily. It recently introduced Linkhaitao.com, which enables US companies to incentivize Chinese bloggers to create localized content featuring their products.

"The additional capital will continue to fuel our growing editorial content initiatives for 55Haitao," said Rick Parada, the managing director of 55haitao, in a statement. "A portion of the capital will also allow the site to expand operations in their sub-affiliate business, Linkhaitao.com."

The 55haitao model bears some similarities to that of Red - also known as Xiaohongshu - an e-commerce platform that offers Chinese consumers discounted goods from overseas. The items available are chosen by users living outside of China, who post the products along with photos and their opinions. GGV Capital committed more than $10 million to Red last year through a Series B round of funding.

Another GGV portfolio company, Wish, also performs a cross-border e-commerce function but in reverse. The mobile shopping app operator - also based in California - which received a $50 million round from GGV, Legend Capital and others in 2014, connects sellers on Alibaba Group's Taobao and TMall platforms - principally targeted at domestic consumers - with shoppers in the US and Europe.

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