SHEIN Seeks $10B in Financing for $100 Billion Valuation

Fast fashion e-commerce company SHEIN is now in talks with General Atlantic regarding a new round of financing, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Among the company’s existing investors are Tiger Global, IDG and Sequoia. SHEIN is reportedly raising $1 billion at a $100 billion valuation.

According to Chinese media outlet 36Kr, SHEIN denied to comment on market rumors and confirmed that the company has no plans for an IPO.

According to multiple sources, the main investors with whom SHEIN is communicating include another large investment group. The undisclosed group is reportedly intending to invest $700 million to make itself become the leading investor in this financing deal.

As to whether the $100 billion valuation of the company is true, several sources told 36Kr that the valuation may change as the transaction is not closed.

SHEIN was the second most downloaded shopping app in the U.S. last year after Amazon, according to app analytics firm Apptopia. The firm still enjoys great development momentum, and its installation volume has increased by 68% year-on-year, while Amazon has dropped by 2.4%.

Compared with its counterparts in Europe and America, SHEIN, established in 2008, has exceeded the sum of H&M and Zara in terms of valuation. It even surpassed the market value of Lululemon, a popular new sports brand in the U.S. worth $46.3 billion.

According to 36Kr, in 2013, SHEIN received a round of financing totaling $5 million from JAFCO. In the year before the A round of financing, the platform’s sales reached 40 million yuan ($6.28 million). With sufficient cash, in 2014 it acquired ROMWE, its main competitor, and transferred its supply chain to Guangzhou to establish overseas warehouses in Europe and America.

In 2015, SHEIN completed B-round financing of 300 million yuan, with IDG and Greenwoods Asset Management serving as investors. It then began to improve the mobile shopping user experience, acquired MakeMeChic to consolidate its North American market, and established a customer service center in the United States. By 2017, the company’s sales had exceeded 10 billion yuan.

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In 2018, SHEIN completed C-round financing led by Sequoia, and disclosed a valuation of $2.5 billion for the first time. In 2019, its annual revenue rose to 19 billion yuan. In the same year, the company received $500 million in D-round financing jointly led by Sequoia and Tiger Global, with a valuation of $5 billion.

In August 2020, SHEIN announced the completion of an E round of financing. According to CB Insights, after this round, the company’s valuation soared to $15 billion.

In June 2021, Forbes reported that SHEIN’s valuation could reach $47 billion.