Dec 2, 2020

2 hours ago Editor CHINA – Chinese multinational technology company Alibaba, and Hong-Kong based investment company Jeneration Capital have co-led a “Series C3” for Nice Tuan, a Chinese group-buying platform for farm produce and other groceries. Nice Tuan’s series C funding was also participated in by other investors including CDH Investments, CICC, Cygnus Equity, GGV Capital, INCE Capital, Joy Capital, KunLun Fund, and Qiming Venture Partners. ADVERT Beijing-based Nice Tuan connects farmers and other food producers to retailers, foodservice businesses, and end customers. The company allows buyers to form groups via its WeChat mini-program, enabling them to collectively buy produce in bulk for more competitive prices. This is the fourth round of funding that Nice Tuan — also known as Shi Hui Tuan — has netted since the start of 2020. In January the chinese startup banked US$88.3 million from investors including Alibaba and ZhenFund, following that up in June where it raised a US$81.4 million “Series C1” round led by GGV Capital. ADVERT A month later, its CDH Investments that took the mantle, leading a  “Series C2” funding which raked in another US$80 million for the startup. Nice Tuan is just one of a number of similar community e-commerce platforms that have sprung up in China in recent years, as consumer appetites for fresh and traceable farm-grown produce hit new heights. Another group-buying app, Tongcheng Life, raised US$200 million in Series C funding round that was co-led by livestreaming platform Joyy. More broadly, Chinese e-grocers have been attracting big-dollar funding from domestic and overseas investors alike. MissFresh scored US$495 million in July from CICC, Goldman Sachs, Tencent, Tiger Global, and others. The Beijing-based startups was China’s highest-funded agrifoodtech startup last year, according to AgFunder research, securing US$700 million in debt financing from local government. Also netting large funding amounts in 2019 were fellow Tencent investees Yipin Fresh — a ‘new retail’ supermarket that received $298 million in a round led by the tech giant — and tech-enabled convenience store chain Furong Xingsheng, which raised a total of $246 million across two rounds. In a statement Nice Tuan said it will use the “Series C3” funds to help more small and medium-sized businesses to generate more income from their produce and other offerings, and expand sales channels for local brands and agricultural products. Liked this article? Subscribe to Food Business Africa News, our regular email newsletters with the latest news insights from Africa and the World’s food and agro industry. SUBSCRIBE HERE