Meicai Valuation, Funding & Investors

Meicai is valued at $7B as of October 2018.

Last Meicai valuation

$7B

Series F · Oct 2018

Last Meicai funding round

$800M

Series F · Oct 2018

Cumulative funding Meicai raised

$1.5B

across 7 funding rounds

Key investors in Meicai

  • Tiger Global
  • Blue Lake Capital
  • GGV Capital
  • ZhenFund
  • Shunwei Capital
  • Hillhouse Investment

Meicai Overview

About Meicai

Meicai is a Beijing-based business-to-business platform that supplies fresh produce, meat and other ingredients to small and medium-sized restaurants across China. Its app lets restaurant buyers order directly from farms and suppliers, and the company runs its own warehouses, delivery teams and trucks rather than relying on traditional wholesale middlemen. Meicai was founded in 2014 and is led by chief executive Liu Chuanjun. It reported sales of nearly RMB 8 billion in 2017 and RMB 22 billion in 2018, and its investors include ZhenFund, Blue Lake Capital, Shunwei Capital, GGV Capital, CMC Capital, Tiger Global and Hillhouse, with an October 2018 round of about $800 million valuing it at $7 billion. Total financing exceeded RMB 10 billion and no new round was announced after October 2018. In 2021 the company cut roughly half of its staff and moved from a direct-sales model towards a platform model, closing warehouses in 15 core cities.


Founded

2014

HQ

ChinaBeijing

Website

meicai.cn

Status

Privately held

Customer focus

B2B

Revenue model

Commission, Subscription

Valuation

$7B (Oct 2018)

Meicai Valuation

Meicai is currently valued at $7B, based on its Series F in October 2018. Read the announcement ↗

The $800M round was led by Hillhouse Investment and Tiger Global.

Meicai's valuation has grown 3.5x from $2B at its Series D in June 2016 to $7B in October 2018, across 3 priced rounds.

Meicai valuation by funding round

Meicai valuation by funding round
DateStageValuation
Oct 2018Series F$7B
Jan 2018Series E$2.8B
Jun 2016Series D$2B

Meicai Funding History

Meicai has raised a total of $1.5B across 7 funding rounds.

Meicai's first fundraising round was a $2M seed round in August 2014. The most recent completed round was a $800M Series F in October 2018.

Meicai funding rounds

Meicai funding rounds
DateStageInvestorsRaisedValuationDeal Summary
Oct 2018Series FHillhouse Investment (lead); Tiger Global (lead)$800M$7BMeicai raised about $800 million in October 2018 in a round led by Tiger Global Management and Hillhouse Capital, which Chinese press labelled an E+ round and which valued the company at about $7 billion, up from $2.8 billion nine months earlier. Early reports on 9 October 2018 put the amount at more than $600 million before the figure of $800 million was reported. The round brought Meicai's total financing above RMB 10 billion and made it one of the most highly valued fresh-food supply-chain start-ups in China, and no further financing was announced after it. Meicai is a Beijing-based platform that sells produce, meat and other ingredients to small and medium-sized restaurants through an app, using its own warehouses and delivery fleet, and it reported annual sales of about RMB 22 billion in 2018. In 2021 it cut roughly half of its staff and shifted from a direct-sales model towards a platform model.
Jan 2018Series ECMC Capital Group (lead); Tiger Global (lead); VMS Asset Management; Genesis Capital$450M$2.8BMeicai raised $450 million in a Series E round in January 2018, led by Tiger Global Management and China Media Capital (CMC Capital), at a valuation of about $2.8 billion. Genesis Capital also invested, and VMS Asset Management is recorded among the participants. Fortune reported the round on 11 January 2018, describing Meicai as a Beijing-based start-up founded in 2014 that lets restaurant owners order produce directly from farms through a smartphone app, with a target of roughly 10 million small and medium-sized Chinese restaurants. The round was followed nine months later by a larger financing of about $800 million led by Tiger Global and Hillhouse at a $7 billion valuation. Meicai had raised a $200 million Series D in June 2016 and an angel round of RMB 10 million in 2014, and its total financing eventually exceeded RMB 10 billion.
Jun 2016Series DGGV Capital$200M$2BMeicai raised a Series D of about $200 million in June 2016, which Chinese press says valued the company at close to $2 billion. GGV Capital is named as the investor in the round. The financing followed a Series C from Meituan's strategic investment department and H Capital in 2015, and in September 2016 the company added RMB 1 billion of bank debt from Bank of Hangzhou. Meicai is a Beijing-based platform that supplies produce and other ingredients to small and medium-sized restaurants from its own warehouses and delivery fleet, and it went on to raise $450 million in January 2018 and about $800 million in October 2018 at a $7 billion valuation. The company was founded in 2014 and is led by chief executive Liu Chuanjun, and its total financing exceeded RMB 10 billion by the end of 2018.
Aug 2015Series CMeituan Strategic Investment--Meicai raised a Series C of tens of millions of US dollars in August 2015, with the strategic investment department of Meituan and H Capital named as investors. A Chinese press profile published in September 2015 said the company had completed the round the previous month, its fourth financing in a little over a year. The round followed a Series B from Shunwei Capital and Blue Lake Capital in February 2015 and preceded a US$200 million Series D in June 2016. Meituan, the local-services platform, took a strategic stake in a supplier to the restaurant industry it serves. Meicai is a Beijing-based business-to-business platform founded in 2014 by Liu Chuanjun that supplies vegetables, meat and other ingredients to small and medium-sized restaurants directly from farms and suppliers through a mobile app, using its own warehouses and delivery fleet. The amount was not published precisely.
Feb 2015Series BBlue Lake Capital; Shunwei Capital--Meicai raised a Series B of tens of millions of US dollars in February 2015 from Shunwei Capital and Blue Lake Capital. Chinese press reported the round without a precise amount. It followed the company's angel round from ZhenFund in 2014 and its Series A from Blue Lake Capital in November 2014, and it preceded a Series C that came about six months later. Blue Lake was returning as an existing investor, while Shunwei Capital, the venture firm co-founded by Xiaomi's Lei Jun, joined the cap table. Meicai is a Beijing-based business-to-business platform founded in 2014 by Liu Chuanjun that supplies vegetables, meat and other ingredients to small and medium-sized restaurants directly from farms and suppliers. Customers order through a mobile app, and the company operates its own warehouses and delivery fleet. At the time of the round the company had been operating for just over a year and was expanding across Chinese cities.
Nov 2014Series ABlue Lake Capital (lead)--Meicai raised a Series A in November 2014 from Blue Lake Capital, the Chinese venture fund founded by Hu Lei in 2014. Chinese press describes the amount only as several million US dollars. The round followed the company's RMB 10 million angel round from ZhenFund earlier in 2014 and preceded a Series B of tens of millions of dollars from Shunwei Capital and Blue Lake in early 2015. Meicai is a Beijing-based business-to-business platform that lets small and medium-sized restaurants order vegetables, meat and other produce directly from farms and suppliers, using its own warehouses and delivery fleet. By 2018 the business reported annual sales of about RMB 22 billion and a $7 billion valuation, and Blue Lake, a Shanghai-based fund that also backed the autonomous-driving company Momenta, lists it as a flagship portfolio company.
Aug 2014SeedZhenFund (lead)$2M-Meicai, the Beijing-based business-to-business fresh-produce platform, raised its first outside financing, an angel round of RMB 10 million led by ZhenFund, in 2014. Chinese press reports differ on the timing, placing the round in June 2014 and dating the company's first financing after its founding on 22 August 2014. The round funded the start-up phase of a platform that lets small and medium-sized restaurants order vegetables, meat and other ingredients directly from farms and suppliers. Meicai went on to raise a Series A from Blue Lake Capital in November 2014, a Series B from Shunwei Capital and Blue Lake in early 2015, a Series C in 2015, a Series D of $200 million in June 2016, a $450 million Series E in January 2018 and about $800 million in October 2018 at a valuation of $7 billion.

Who has invested in Meicai?

10 investors have backed Meicai across its funding rounds, including Tiger Global, Blue Lake Capital, GGV Capital, ZhenFund, Shunwei Capital and Hillhouse Investment.

Lead investors include Hillhouse Investment, Tiger Global, CMC Capital Group, Blue Lake Capital and ZhenFund.


Meicai Investors

Investors in Meicai by funding rounds participated
InvestorHQRoundsRoleFirst check
Blue Lake CapitalChinaShanghai2LeadNov 2014
Tiger GlobalUnited StatesNew York City, NY2LeadJan 2018
ZhenFundChinaBeijing1LeadAug 2014
Shunwei CapitalChinaBeijing1ParticipantFeb 2015
Hillhouse InvestmentChinaBeijing1LeadOct 2018
VMS Asset ManagementHong KongHong Kong1ParticipantJan 2018
Meituan Strategic InvestmentChinaChina1ParticipantAug 2015
GGV CapitalUnited StatesSan Francisco, CA1ParticipantJun 2016

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all 10 Meicai investors.

Start Free Trial

Benchmark 350K+ Funding Rounds and Disclosed VC Valuation Multiples

Sign up to see data on 350K+ funding rounds and disclosed revenue and EBITDA valuation multiples, from seed, through growth stage, to pre-IPO.

Start Free Trial

Investments by Meicai

Meicai has invested in 1 company to date.

Latest investment by Meicai was on June 28th 2020. Meicai invested in Liancaiwang.cn in their $22M Series B round.


Latest Investments by Meicai

Liancaiwang.cn
Description
Liancaiwang.cn is a China-based procurement platform serving the catering sector with streamlined supply services. Restaurants utilize its one-touch ordering system to source ingredients and inventory efficiently, optimizing back-end operations. The platform targets the internet transformation of foodservice logistics nationwide.
HQ CountryChina
HQ City
Zhengzhou
Deal Date28 Jun 2020
RoundSeries B
Raised$22M
Investors-
Valuationundisclosed
EV/Revenue
EV/EBITDA

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Meicai investments and their VC round multiples.

Start Free Trial

Meicai Competitors

Meicai competitors include listed companies like Ingram Micro, Descartes Systems Group and Wuchan Zhongda Group Co, and private ones like ElasticRun, RELEX Solutions and Workato.

Public and private companies comparable to Meicai
CompanyHQStatusRevenueEBITDAValuationRevenue Multiple
ElasticRunIndiaPunePrivate$147M-$1.5B-
Ingram MicroUnited StatesUnited StatesPublicly listed$53B$1.1B$6.5B0.2x
Descartes Systems GroupCanadaCanadaPublicly listed$729M$305M$7.8B9.1x
RELEX SolutionsFinlandHelsinkiPrivate$304M-$5.8B38.3x
WorkatoUnited StatesMountain ViewPrivate--$5.7B-
Wuchan Zhongda Group CoChinaChinaPublicly listed$90B$1.5B$3.9B0.1x

Meicai Public Comps

Meicai is still privately-owned, but its public comps include Ingram Micro, Tongwei, Descartes Systems Group, Corteva, Mosaic, SalMar, Coromandel International, Fertiglobe, Vinamilk and Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore.

Last FYEV/RevenueEV/EBITDA
RevenueEBITDALast FYLTM2027ELast FYLTM2027E
Ingram Micro$53B$1.1B0.2x0.2x8.9x6.5x
Tongwei$13B$464M1.5x1.5x41.6x19.3x
Descartes Systems Group$729M$305M10.1x9.1x24.1x19.9x
Corteva$17B$2.9B0.6x0.6x3.6x2.6x
Mosaic$12B$2.5B1.0x1.0x4.8x6.9x
SalMar$3B$548M3.7x3.2x19.8x12.3x
Coromandel International$2.1B$344M2.7x1.6x16.7x16.3x
Fertiglobe$2.8B$1B2.3x1.9x6.3x5.4x

This data is available for Pro users. Sign up to see all Meicai competitors and their valuation data.

Start Free Trial

Common questions about Meicai

When was Meicai founded?Meicai was founded in 2014.
Where is Meicai headquartered?Meicai is headquartered in Beijing, China.
Is Meicai publicly listed?No, Meicai is a private, VC-backed company.
What is Meicai's valuation?Meicai was last valued at $7B in its Series F in October 2018.
How much funding has Meicai raised?Meicai has raised $1.5B across 7 funding rounds.
What was Meicai's last funding round?Meicai's last funding round was a $800M Series F in October 2018, led by Hillhouse Investment and Tiger Global.
Who are Meicai's investors?Meicai's investors include Blue Lake Capital, Tiger Global, ZhenFund, Shunwei Capital, Hillhouse Investment, VMS Asset Management, Meituan Strategic Investment, GGV Capital, CMC Capital Group and Genesis Capital.
Which companies are comparable to Meicai?Companies comparable to Meicai include ElasticRun, Ingram Micro, Descartes Systems Group, RELEX Solutions, Workato and Wuchan Zhongda Group Co.
How many companies has Meicai invested in?Meicai has invested in 1 company, including Liancaiwang.cn.
What was Meicai's last investment?In June 2020, Meicai invested in Liancaiwang.cn's $22M Series B.

See companies similar to Meicai

Start Your
Free Trial Today

Try Multiples for free for 3 days. Got questions or need a demo? Schedule a call with us below.

Start Trial