Lightspeed China Partners, a leading China focused venture capital firm, has invested in the Series B financing round of Meilele, the largest online retailer of self-branded furniture in China. The other participants in this Series B round include Vertex Venture Holdings Ltd., Lightspeed Venture Partners, KTB Capital and LionRock Capital. The total round size is $40 million US dollars. In April 2011, Lightspeed Venture Partners led Meilele’s Series A financing in its first institutional round.
Founded in 2008, Meilele has a unique online and offline sales model. In addition to its strong online presence, it has opened over 50 offline showrooms nationwide. Its monthly sales have grown over 10 times in the past 12 months. With this capital infusion, Meilele will further expand its product categories and service capabilities. “We aim to build the biggest online furniture commerce platform in China that provides the best value to its consumers,” said Meilele’s CEO Yang Gao.
Lightspeed China Partners has been focused on early-stage opportunities in the consumer Internet and services related sectors. Last month, the firm closed an investment in Tujia.com, the largest online vacation rental services provider in China.
“The furniture market in China is a multi-billion dollar business,” noted James Mi, managing director of Lightspeed China Partners. “Meilele’s unique business model is disruptive to traditional offline businesses which are very inefficient. We believe there is a huge opportunity for emerging e-commerce companies like Meilele that have strong online capabilities complemented by offline services.”
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