China-based sneaker trading platform Nice has raised “tens of millions” of dollars in a Series D round led by the TPG-Softbank joint venture fund and Vision Capital, with Matrix Partners China and Fanzhuo Capital also participating, 36Kr reports.
Founded in 2013, Nice began as an image-based social platform and raised more than USD 60 million (RMB 412.5 million) over three financing rounds in 2014, before pivoting last year to create a marketplace and trading platform for the sneakerhead community.
The redesigned app launched in July 2018 and features two main experiences: one is a “what to buy” feed with sneaker-related content and other community features, and the other lets users in on “how to trade,” enticing them to buy and sell sneakers on the platform.
Funding for Chinese sneaker trading apps is heating up as investors seek a piece of the USD 6 billion (RMB 41.2 billion) global sneaker resale market. In April, China’s largest sneaker trading platform Poizon raised a round valuing it at USD 1 billion (RMB 6.9 billion), and one month later DoNew, another upstart focusing on sneaker resales, secured nearly USD 10 million (RMB 69 million) in Series A funding.
36Kr is KrASIA’s parent company.