Yamibuy, an e-commerce site for Americans to purchase the best Asian snacks, beauty products, health supplements and home appliances, has closed a USD10 million Series A funding round led by GGV Capital, with participation from New Oriental Education & Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE: EDU) and K2VC.
The investment, the company’s first round of institutional funding, was announced at a Jpress conference at Sofitel Wanda Beijing Hotel in Beijing, China. Yamibuy founder and CEO Alex Zhou was joined by GGV Capital managing partner Hans Tung, New Oriental general manager of investment business department Zheng Zhao and K2VC managing partner Shiyu Wang.
“For the past four years, Yamibuy has steadily increased its market share and brand presence within the Asian American community, without the help of any capital investment,” says Alex Zhou, founder & CEO of Yamibuy. “With this first infusion of institutional funds, Yamibuy will be able to better serve its customers, bring in more products and improve the overall customer experience. All of this ultimately supports our mission of serving Chinese Americans, as well as customers from other parts of Asia.”
Founded in 2013 on the idea that Asian Americans should have easier access to the Asian products they are familiar with and trust, Yamibuy has a deep understanding of its customers’ behavior, particularly their online shopping and consumption habits. The company built a highly targeted e-commerce platform to serve this growing customer base, and the investors in this Series A investment announced today share an enthusiastic view of Yamibuy’s potential.
“Yamibuy is about the strength of global ecommerce and finding the comforts of home no matter where in the world you are. The loyalty of Yamibuy customers is impressive, thanks in large part to the talented international team who understands their Chinese and Chinese American millennial customers,” says Hans Tung, managing partner, GGV Capital and Yamibuy board member.
The purchasing power of Asian Americans is increasing rapidly, and Yamibuy is capitalizing on this market’s collective desire to shop for Asian goods that are typically hard to find in the United States. The company has more than a half million registered customers, and a catalogue of approximately 15,000 products. The investment announced today is expected to accelerate growth of Yamibuy’s customer base, and broaden its product portfolio.
Zheng Zhao, general manager of investment business department at New Oriental, adds: “Yamibuy’s growing customer base, mature supply chain and reduced procurement costs are core competencies that have enabled the company’s impressive growth over the past four years. We believe these strengths, coupled with Yamibuy’s accurate grasp and application of customer data, position the company very well for future growth. We are optimistic about Yamibuy’s expansion, especially in light of increased residency of Asian students in the United States, as well as immigration from Asia as people come to live and work in the US.”
“Yamibuy assembled an e-commerce dream team in both China and the US. We believe that the user loyalty and stickiness Yamibuy accumulated the past four years cannot be overvalued,” says Shiyu Wang, managing partner at K2VC. “We hope this funding will help Yamibuy further optimize its supply chain to better serve the Asian community overseas.”
