Chinese ecommerce site for babies raises $100M funding, now a newborn unicorn

Beibei, a Chinese ecommerce site specializing in items for infants, toddlers, and moms, has just announced it raised US$100 million in a series C funding round led by Capital Today and New Horizon, according to 36kr. Previous investors IDG and Banyan Capital also contributed to the round.

Beibei was established just in April last year by its parent company, Mizhe. Mizhe led Beibei’s US$24.4 million series B round in August, followed by IDG and Banyan.

The site sells a wide range of clothing, accessories, toys, and diapers. It has a special section just for overseas products for parents who don’t trust goods made in China, along with a handful of daily deal flash sales. CEO Zhang Lianglun says Beibei now has 5,000 brands, 10 million registered users, RMB 200 million in monthly sales, and 100,000 items sold daily. 70 percent of orders come from mobile devices.

China has several ecommerce stores in the baby niche, capitalizing on the 16 million infants born there every year. They include Lamahui, Miyabaobei, and Redbaby.

Beibei claims its valuation now stands at US$1 billion, adding it to China’s growing list of unicorns. That also indicates it sold a 10 percent stake in return for this latest investment.

The money will go toward enhancing the shopping experience, helping smaller brands market their products, developing more overseas business channels, and expanding the team.

See: China’s ecommerce market was worth $2 trillion in 2014(Source: 36kr)