Joyce Zhang Xiaopei, former co-founder and CTO of auto-trading platform Chehaoduo, recently secured USD 100 million in fresh financing for her new sportswear and clothing startup, Quanliang Quansu (“Full Volume, Full Speed”), from investors including Sequoia Capital, IDG Capital, and Today Capital.
After stepping down from Chehaoduo in May 2020, Zhang founded Quanliang Quansu just two months later, announcing a USD 30 million angel investment round, which valued the business at around USD 150 million at the time. Zhang has a diverse background, having previously served as CTO at CreditEase, an advertising executive at Microsoft, and as global vice president at Hulu. She explained the motivation behind her latest venture as an opportunist play.
“I am a rational entrepreneur. The idea is to analyze whether there is a market opportunity in this area. I didn’t launch a startup in the auto industry because I loved cars, and I’m not launching a clothing brand because I love fashion. It is because I have identified gaps in the market, and want to use innovative business models and technology to increase efficiency,” Zhang said.
“I firmly believe that technology can make the world a better place. In my mind, we want to be a technology-driven apparel company built on e-commerce. Our team has technical DNA and has recognized this opportunity to use technology, data, and algorithms to greatly improve efficiency in the clothing sector.”
Emboldened by other fast fashion successes like Shein, Quanliang Quansu aims to provide “quality goods at reasonable prices,” and Zhang believes that her brand’s value will be embraced by shoppers around the world.
“We hope that with the team’s international vision and deep technical capabilities, and the backing of strong supply chain capabilities in China and Southeast Asia, we can produce a wide variety of high-quality goods for global customers at affordable prices,” Zhang said.
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36Kr Connection features translated and adapted content published by 36Kr. This article was originally written by Yang Lin for 36Kr.