Chinese online-to-offline (O2O) community group buying platform Tongcheng Life has garnered $200 million in a Series C round of financing to enhance its supply chain capabilities and expand its presence in eastern and southern China.
The Series C round was led by Nasdaq-listed Chinese social media platform Joyy Inc and existing shareholder Engage Capital, an early-stage venture capital firm that counts Joyy as a key limited partner (LP).
Other investors include Legend Capital, Chinese government-linked investment holding group Oriza Holdings, and Tongcheng-Elong’s venture capital unit Tongcheng Capital.
GSR Ventures, Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI) and Welight Capital, an investment firm led by former Tencent executive Wu Xiaoguang, also participated in the round.
Tongcheng Life allows customers to purchase fresh produce and other home supplies through a WeChat mini program. The products are then delivered to smart lockers in residential communities for customers to pick up.
“Tongcheng Life transferred the fragmented agricultural service of providing fresh produce like vegetables and fruits into an integrated internet service,” said Li Xueling, co-founder and chairman of Joyy, in a WeChat post. “It operates as a new-generation internet company that delivers new life service offerings to about one billion people.”
The $200-million Series C round is the largest funding round raised by Tongcheng Life since its inception at the end of 2018.
Incubated and backed by Hong Kong-listed Chinese online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong, the startup completed four rounds of funding in 2019, including a $100-million Series B round led by Legend Capital last August.
The company is led by He Pengyu, a former senior vice president at Tongcheng-Elong, and Yin Xiang, who founded community group buying platform Qianxianhui that was acquired by Tongcheng Life in late 2018.
