Chinese grocery delivery unicorn Dingdong Maicai has closed its USD 700 million Series D round, investor Cygnus Equity announced on Tuesday on its official WeChat account. Shareholders Tiger Global, General Atlantic, Capital Today, and Sequoia China also joined the round, valuating Dingdong at USD 3.5 billion, according to investment data aggregator ITjuzi.
The company offers on-demand fresh produce delivery to China’s densely populated urban cities through hundreds of warehouses. In February, it reportedly considered an IPO in the US as early as this year, hoping to raise at least USD 300 million, said Securities Daily.
“Seizing decent market share in the fresh produce e-commerce sector can be a protracted war,” Pan Helin of the Institute of Digital Economy at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law told the paper. “The company that outruns others in an IPO will get more attention and gain a bigger advantage in brand image and valuation,” he said.
Last week, Nice Tuan, an Alibaba-backed startup that taps into China’s booming grocery e-commerce demand through community group-buying, bagged USD 750 million from its Series D round, KrASIA reported.
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This article is part of KrASIA’s “Key Stat” series, where KrASIA picks and presents the most significant figures of the day’s technology and business world.