Will Eleme-like large acquisitions happen in this accelerating B2B foodservice market?
China's business-to-business (B2B) marketplace company Meicai led a CNY 155 million Series B+ round of funding with a Henan-based food supplier, Liancai.
Founded in 2015, Liancai recorded CNY 100 million sales in 2019 and has maintained profitability in Zhengzhou for two consecutive years. Its core operating location, Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan, is located in the middle of China and is close to Beijing. Beijing-based Meicai plans to expand into the region together with Liancai.
Liancai penetrates along the foodservice value chain, from B2B services to enterprises, community group purchases, and on-demand instant fresh food delivery, closing the loop from supply and demand on both to-B end and to-C (consumer) end.
Competing with Alibaba and Meituan, Meicai is expected to reach CNY 14 billion revenue in 2019, as per its founder Liu Chuanjun (in Chinese). The company was valued at CNY 7 billion in September 2018.
During the COVID-19, Meituan has tasted success in its non-food delivery and aims to expand the business in 2020.
Read more about Chinese leading food delivery service providers Meicai and Dada Nexus.