Hangzhou-based B2B e-commerce platform Hipac has closed its USD 100 million Series D financing round led by Anchor Equity Partners, 36Kr reported on Friday.
Hipac was founded in 2015. Its platform carries products for mothers and babies to supply brick-and-mortar stores located in China’s smaller cities and rural areas.
Hillhouse Capital, which was among earlier investors of the startup, also participated in Hipac’s Series D round. Cygenus Equity served as the exclusive financial advisor.
Zhao Chen, founder and CEO of Hipac, said that new funds will be used to expand the company’s technology team, improve its supply chain, update the platform’s smart store management system, and acquire additional brands for its product lineup.
Hipac has served more than 200,000 stores that sell maternal and baby products. That’s two-thirds of all stores of this type in China, according to 36Kr.
The startup said that in 2018, its gross merchandise volume (GMV) reached RMB 8 billion (USD 1.1 billion), and expects that number to hit RMB 15 billion in 2019.
Although China’s e-commerce sector has created large players such as Alibaba, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, entrepreneurs can still find niche markets for rapid growth and garner interest from investors.
Guangzhou-based B2B textile trading platform Baibu—not to be confused with the search engine Baidu—recently closed its Series D round, with investors pouring in USD 300 million. The platform’s year-to-date sales volume has reached nearly RMB 10 billion, according to data provided by the company.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.
