Luxe.CO China Investment Weekly March 21 to 27, 2020

Since 2016, Luxe.CO has regularly released "Luxe China Investment Weekly", a compilation of investment and financing news across the fashion and lifestyle industries in China. It includes fashion brands, fashion e-commerce, beauty & skincare, food & beverage, health and fitness, hospitality & travel, home decor & toys, culture & entertainment, fashion technology and more.

The 11th issue of "Luxe.CO China Investment Weekly" includes seven domestic investment and financing news from March 21 to 27, 2020.

Food & Beverage

1. Popular Tea Brand HEYTEA Completes A New Round of Financing

On March 23, HEYTEA announced the completion of a new round of financing, led by Hillhouse Capital Group and Coatue, with a post-investment valuation of more than 16 billion yuan. HEYTEA's last round of funding, led by Tencent and Sequoia Capital, valued the business at nine billion yuan in July last year. Founded in 2013, HEYTEA's target customers are mainly young people and white-collar workers. By the end of 2019, it had opened 390 stores in 43 cities nationwide, and the total number of users of the "HEYTEA go" WeChat Mini Program reached 21.5 million.

2. A New Baijiu Retailer Sanliangbai Completes Series A of Financing Worth Tens of Millions of Yuan

On March 23, Sanliangbai announced the completion of a Series A financing worth tens of millions of yuan. Investors include China Millennium Capital, MissFresh Ecological Chain Fund and Plum Ventures. This round of financing will mainly be used for channel building and accelerating market growth.

Sanliangbai provides wine lovers with cost-effective liquor directly supplied by manufacturers via self-developed intelligent equipment. The equipment is similar to a wine dispenser, and allows consumers to directly scan the QR code on the equipment to buy drinks.

3. Boutique Coffee Brand Saturnbird Coffee Complets Series A++ Financing

On March 25, Saturnbird Coffee announced the completion of Series A++ financing. Saturnbird’s investor is Sequoia Capital, and its post-investment valuation is  about US$120 million. It is the brand's fourth round of financing in the past one and a half years, following completion of Pre-A, A and A+ rounds of financing.

Founded in 2015, Saturnbird Coffee products include instant coffee, instant drip coffee bags, and coffee making tools.  Due to its innovative packaging, flavor and aroma, and excellent solubility (easily soluble in hot water, cold water or milk), its products have quickly become a hot item in China.

Fashion E-commerce

4. Cross-border Maternal And Child E-commerce Platform Hibobi Completes Multi-million Dollar Series Pre-A Financing

On March 23, Hangzhou-based Hibobi announced the completion of multi-million dollar Series Pre-A financingled by OrderPlus and followed by Grit Ventures and 01VC. This round of financing will mainly be used for development of its supply chain, brand marketing and technology upgrades. Founded in 2019, Hibobi also completed a multi-million dollar angel round in December last year. The platform mainly sells “Made in China” children's wear to the Middle East market.

5. Short Video E-commerce Platform Fenlai Completes Pre-A+ Financing 

On March 24, Fenlai announced the completion of Series Pre-A+ financing with Qingying Venture Capital Fund. As a social e-commerce business based on the B2B2C model, users can not only buy products on the platform, but also become spokesmen by making short videos for their favorite products and bringing more attention and traffic for merchants seeking to generate revenue. Merchants can also make their own short videos and upload them to the platform. By the end of 2019, the number of platform spokespeople exceeded 300,000.

 Fashion Technology

6. NEWTECH Textile Technology Development Completes Series B Financing Worth Tens of Millions of US Dollars

On March 26, NEWTECH Textile Technology Development announced the completion of Series B financing worth tens of millions of US dollars led by CMC Capital and followed by Softbank China. Founded in 2000, NEWTECH Textile Technology Development provides B-end customers with intelligent printing equipment, production materials and supply chain services. At present, the company has set up its own garment supply chain system, covering dyeing, printing and material sortings,which can directly serve garment enterprise customers. In the future, it will include a garment manufacturing link to its system.

Others

7. Fanmi Technology Completes Series A+ Financing Valued At Tens of Millions of Yuan

On March 25, Fanmi Technology, an innovative company specializing in the development of intelligent products in the public health field, announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in Series A+ financing with Dingxiang Capital. This round of financing will be used for product development and promotion in the field of public health. Fanmi Technology has mastered the ability to conduct research independently and develop chip technology. In its early stage, the company mainly focused on maternal and child health, and later expanded its target customer group to include adults and the elderly. Core products include accurate infrared thermometers and temperature-measuring milk bottle covers.