On Tuesday, Cloud-based ERP software maker Jushuitan announced that it invested RMB 100 million (USD 15 million) in Hangzhou-based Ecool, whose SaaS products are used by 210,000 corporate clients mostly in the clothing sector.
Ecool unveiled its Shangluhua app in 2012, allowing apparel wholesalers to manage key business information. It later rolled out other software products, such as Xiaopu Riji, which allows small retailers to automatically record operational data, as well as a franchise management software program.
“Ecool has cemented its leading position in its sector in the past ten years, pushing digitization in the apparel industry,” said Luo Haidong, founder and CEO of Jushuitan, who is looking for a “huge business synergy effect” between the companies.
However, for Sun Yuxuan, founding partner of SIE CVC, an enterprise SaaS-focused investment arm of Shenzhen-listed digital solution provider Guangzhou SIE Consulting, Ecool is a relative unknown in China’s fragmented SaaS sector.
“Ecool mostly serves wholesalers and retailers that have physical outlets in smaller cities, covering application scenarios where Jushuitan’s products have not built a strong presence,” Sun told KrASIA on Tuesday.
“On the other side, Jushuitan is already a leader in the e-commerce SaaS sector, mostly serving middle-end merchants on various marketplaces while top players like Adidas and Nike leverage software developed by companies such as SAP to run on local servers, rather than in the cloud,” he explained.
Jushuitan was established in 2014 in Shanghai and provides ERP products to about 800,000 corporate clients, such as grocery trader Qingqing Yulu and shoemaker Yearcon. Its SaaS systems are connected with e-commerce sites of Tencent-backed Shopee, AliExpress, and B2B e-commerce site 1688, as well as logistics service providers such as ZTO, China Post, Best, and UPS, to allow vendors to manage online orders and inventories.
Jushuitan has a track record of backing startups in the e-commerce sector. The company funded Shanghai-based supply-chain SaaS provider LinkMore’s angel round, as well as Shenzhen-based Lingxing, which serves cross-border merchants on Amazon, allowing vendors to have a clear picture of their business by aggregating revenue and net income from different countries with varied currencies.