China VC Weekly: Milk Tea, Instant Noodles and AI Chips
Milk tea chain Nayuki Tea close to raising $100 million
Nayuki Tea, one of the biggest bubble tea chains in China, will complete a new round of funding that will help the company raise close to $100 million, providing the company with much-needed capital to compete for market share with major rival HEYTEA, 36Kr reported.
Coming more than two years after Nayuki series A, the new round of funding is led by Shenzhen Capital Group, several people with knowledge of the matter told 36Kr.
In February, Nayuki Tea filed confidentially to list in the US, looking to raise as much as $400 million in 2020, according to a Bloomberg report. The report also said Nayuki was looking to complete a pre-IPO funding round of $50 million to $100 million.
About Nayuki Tea
Founded in 2015 by Shenzhen Pindao Restaurant Management Co., Nayuki sells fresh fruit tea, cold-brewed tea, and baked goods, targeting primarily female customers between 20 and 35. The chain has 349 direct-selling stores in more than 50 cities in China as of February 2020, with no franchise stores, according to the company website.
Female underwear store chain GOSO raises 100 million yuan in series A round
Chinese female underwear and body care store chain GOSO announced that it had completed a series A round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan at the end of 2019, and the investor was the Xianfeng Qiyun Fund.
Since its establishment in 2014, GOSO has opened more than 1,700 offline stores including more than 300 new stores during the COVID-19 epidemic. The company will use this round of financing to increase investment in product research and development, omnichannel operation efficiency, and the construction of a data center.
About GOSO
GOSO specializes in women’s underwear and body care products, providing a one-stop shopping experience for women looking for well-designed and healthy products at the best price while utilizing an innovative multi-channel membership relationship and service system.
Instant food maker Baijia Food bags 200 million yuan
Chinese instant food company Baijia Food completed a nearly 200 million yuan ($28.28 million) series B round of financing, led by Hillhouse Capital, while Maotai Jianxin Investment Fund, Yisan Capital, as well as existing investors Cowin Capital and Befor Capital also contributed to the round.
Just four months earlier, in February, Baijia Food secured 110 million yuan in a Series A round financing.
According to Chen Zhaohui, chairman and president of Baijia Foods, the company plans to file an IPO application next year with the goal of becoming the first new instant food company listed on the domestic A-share market. The B round of financing will be mainly used for technology research and development, production capacity enhancement, channel development and brand promotion.
About Baijia Food
Baijia Food is an instant food company focusing on R&D, production, and sales of new instant foods. It has two well-known fast-selling brands: “Baijia Chenji” hot and sour rice noodles and “Akuan” spicy red oil noodles.
Service robot company Uditech completes a 100 million yuan series B3 round
Service robot maker Uditech announced the completion of a 100 million yuan B3 round of financing led by Wuhan-based PE firm Xueqiu, with contributions from Legend Capital, China Merchants Capital, and Convivialite Ventures. The proceeds of the round will be used for market expansion, R&D investment and capacity growth.
At present, Uditech robots are being used in hotels, office buildings, residential buildings, karaoke bars, hospitals, schools, parks, etc., covering more than 200 cities across the country, servicing more than 1,000 establishments with an average of more than 60,000 people served per day.
About Uditech
Uditech is a Shenzhen-based service robot developer. Its main products include indoor and outdoor distribution robots.
Legend Capital and IDG Capita pour $283 million in chip-maker Eswin
Chip-maker Eswin announced the completion of a new round of financing of more than $283 million. Eswin plans to use the capital for product development, IP protection as well as team expansion and talent recruitment. It will focus on improving the layout of its entire product line with a focus on ecology. This round of financing was jointly led by Legend Capital and IDG Capital.
Wang Dongsheng, the founder of Eswin, is also the founder of Chinese electronic components producer BOE Technology, considered the father of China’s LCD industry. In 2019, he stepped down as chairman of BOE focusing fully on the chip field.
About Eswin
Eswin provides IC application solutions in mobile devices, smart homes, smart transportation, industrial IoT, produces 12-inch monocrystalline silicon polished wafers and epitaxial wafers, and delivers rear-end IC packaging and testing services. It operates R&D centers in China, the U.K., and South Korea, and has production facilities in Xi’an, Chengdu, Hefei and Suzhou.
