Here’s our roundup of Alibaba’s investments in US-based companies

Stock market speculators are salivating over Alibaba’s eventual IPO later this summer, but it’s far from the first appearance China’s ecommerce leader has made in the US. Alibaba has invested almost US$1 billion into American tech firms, both within the ecommerce sector and outside of it. The company even has a special investment office based in San Francisco, where it scouts out promising startups to support.

It’s likely too early to extrapolate an investment thesis from Alibaba’s existing US portfolio, which remains small but is growing fast. On page 87 of its prospectus, Alibaba lays out its investment strategy as follows:

We have made, and intend to continue to make, strategic investments and acquisitions to expand our user base and add complementary products and technologies. For example, we expect to continue to make strategic investments and acquisitions relating to mobile, O2O services, digital media and category expansion as well as logistics services. Our strategic investments and acquisitions may affect our future financial results.

Below we’ve listed six of Alibaba’s investments in US-based companies from the past year or so. Expect a few more before the year winds down.

Shoprunner

Shoprunner is an ecommerce service that charges an annual subscription fee of US$79 for guaranteed two-day shipping on a wide range of name-brand products. It’s a direct competitor to Amazon Prime, which offers a similar service at a slightly higher fee. For those who buy goods online only occasionally, Shoprunner might seem like a losing bet, but for ecommerce addicts it’s a dream come true – undercutting Amazon makes it easier to switch over from the incumbent.

Last year Alibaba led a US$202 million investment in the Pennsylvania-based company. Upon its IPO filing earlier this month, the company revealed that it currently owns a whopping 39 percent stake in Shoprunner – just a hair away from a controlling stake. The two firms are set to collaborate this year, with Alibaba offering select Chinese customers membership plans on Shoprunner, which will ship purchased goods from a central US location to hubs in Alibaba’s logistics network in China.

Quixey

This one sits a bit far left-field for Alibaba, which led a US$50 million investment in the company last October.

Quixey originated as a search engine for mobile apps – log on to www.quixey.com, type in ‘travel’ in the search bar, and you’d get a bunch of results that hopefully match your query.

Fanatics

Tango

1stdibs

Lyft

Bonus: 11 Main