China Fashion and Lifestyle Investment News: Shoe brand equity investment, Bronze craft e-commerce, smart retail and data services

Luxe.Co has launched “Luxe.Co China Investment Weekly” since 2016, reporting weekly updates on investment and financing in the China fashion and lifestyle industries. The updates cover fashion, beauty care, food and dining, sports and fitness, hotel and travel, household products, culture and creativity, fashion technology and other related fields.

Fashion Brands

• Belle International (百丽国际) acquired entry luxury shoe brand 73Hours

Belle International and entry luxury shoe brand 73Hours announced jointly on August 21st that they had signed an agreement and Belle International became the controlling shareholder of 73Hours. After the acquisition, 73Hours will remain independent brand operation. Established in February 2015, 73Hours starts from retail stores and has opened 17 stores in Shanghai, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou and other cities. The number of stores is expected to reach 30 stores by the year end. Online channels include TMall, Taobao and Xiaohongshu. The Weibo account of the founder Ruohong Zhao has over 750,000 fans and provides traffic flow to the brand.

• Women’s lingerie brand Ubras raised CNY 50M in Series A funding

Women’s lingerie brand Ubras announced on August 21st that they raised CNY 50M from Today Capital in Series A funding. The funding will be mainly used on product development and retail store opening. Established in 2016, Ubras features “not the first thing to take off” concept. Abandoning underwires and thick padding, Ubras developed a more ergonomic detachable water drop pad, and applied Japanese pointed-glue technology to replace traditional rubber bone and sewing. The repeated purchase ratio is about 70% currently. Purchasing customers are expected to increase to over one million in 2018.

Fashion e-Commerce

• Bronze craft e-commerce TONGSHIFU (铜师傅) raised 310 million yuan in Series B funding

Bronze craft e-commerce Tongshifu announced on August 19th that they raised 310 million yuan in Series B funding. Cathay Capital was the lead investor. Previous shareholders Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi Investment, and Haiquan Fund also participated in the investment. Previously, Tongshifu raised 110 million yuan in Series A funding in August 2017. The new funding will be mainly used to expand production scale and improve internal management. Founded in 2013 in Hangzhou, Tongshifu focuses on the design of original bronze crafts featuring gold foil painting, color painting, and clay sculpturing. Tongshifu launched new furniture collections “Bronze Woodism” and IP collection “New Monkey King” in 2017. Tongshifu’s revenue exceeded 250 million yuan in 2017 and is expected to reach 600 million yuan in 2018.

Food & Dining

• New Chinese snack brand YUXIAOGUO (于小菓) raised 20-million-yuan angel funding

New Chinese snack brand Yuxiaoguo announced on August 21st that they raised 20-million-yuan angel funding in early 2018. Detailed investor information was not disclosed. Founded by artists and collectors in early 2018, Yuxiaoguo features traditional Chinese elements and has launched Xiaoguo pastry, Energy Ta (nuts), and middle-autumn moon-cake gift sets with prices from 88 to 358 yuan.

• Soup chain brand Soup Party (吃个汤) raised nearly one hundred million yuan in Series A+ funding

Soup chain brand Soup Party announced on August 23rd that they raised nearly one hundred million yuan in Series A+ funding in March 2018. Lead investors include N5 Capital and Kaixin Capital. Previously, Soup Party raised 30 million yuan from N5 Capital in Series A funding in June 2017. Established in April 2015, Soup party focuses on the takeaway market with over 70 stores. The ratio of takeaway and dine-in is 6:4. Customers are young female aged from 24 to 35 years old. With 7 SKUs and the model of “soup + rice”, Soup Party features coconut soup (coconut as the ingredient and container) with the unit customer price from 30 to 50 yuan.

• Catering brand Gaga (鲜语) raised 180 million yuan in Series A funding

Light catering chain brand Gaga announced on August 23rd that they raised 180 million yuan in Series A funding led by Legend Capital. The funding will be mainly used on store expansion, supply chain optimization and IT system improvement. Established in 2010 in Shenzhen, Gaga features “tea + light meal + social space". Tea drinks feature fresh fruit tea with the price from 30 to 40 yuan. Light meals feature salad and pasta, with the price of around 60 yuan. Currently Gaga has opened 21 stores in Shenzhen and Shanghai.

Fashion Technology

• Smart retail experience and data service provider Whale (帷幄) raised tens of millions of yuan in Series Pre-A funding

Smart retail experience and data service provider Whale announced on August 24th that they raised tens of millions of yuan from Linear Venture in Series Pre-A funding. Previously, Whale raised millions of US dollars in angel funding from Alpha Startups in May 2018. The funding will be mainly used on technology R&D and iteration. Established in October 2017, Whale offers products including Flow camera, Lantern data platform, and Mango smart shelves which were launched recently. Based on image visual and gravity sensing technology, the shelves have functions including product display, dynamic discounts and easy payment.

Others

• Capsule machine brand Kuaileniudan (快乐扭蛋) raised millions of yuan in Series Pre-A funding

Capsule machine brand Kuaileniudan announced on August 20th that they raised millions of yuan in Series Pre-A funding in June 2018. Detailed investor information was not disclosed. Previously, Kuaileniudai received tens of millions of yuan from the individual investor of Plum Ventures in angel funding. The new funding will be mainly used to expand toy categories, and cooperate with more movie and cartoon IPs. Currently Kuaileniudan has distributed 4100 machines and covered 460 outlets in Sichuan, Fujian and Guangdong.

The above information is based on the company announcement and/or online news. Luxe.Co makes reasonable efforts to obtain reliable content from third parties. Luxe.Co does not guarantee the accuracy of or endorse the views or opinions given by any third-party content provider.

| Chinese reporter: Jiaqi Wang

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