Lashou.com advertisement in a street in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Founded in March 2010, Lashou has quickly grown into China's biggest group-purchasing website with an estimated market value of $1.1 billion. [Photo / China Daily]
BEIJING - Lashou.com, China's biggest group-buying website by market value, said it received $111 million in a new round of funding and is planning to expand in the Southeast Asia market in the second half of this year.
London-based Milestone Capital Partners LLP and two funds under the Swiss company Richemont SA led the latest financing, according to a statement issued by Lashou on Monday. The investment follows two rounds of funding last year, which collected $5 million and $50 million, respectively.
The funds will be used for upgrading call centers, city logistics, and the setting up of Lashou outlets in more than 30 cities, according to the company.
"At present, Lashou.com wants to cooperate with investors who may have a retail background, because their resources can help us better serve our clients," said Wu Bo, the website's founder and chief executive officer.
The Geneva-based Richemont owns several of the world's leading companies in the field of jewelry, luxury watches and premium accessories, such as the jewelry brand Cartier and Jaeger-LeCoultre watches.
Wu said many Chinese people dream of purchasing luxury goods at a cheaper price. Demand can create a big market if a group-buying website launches products with luxury brands. This may help Lashou.com to achieve its target of building up an "online outlet" in China, Wu added.
Founded in March 2010, Lashou has quickly grown into China's biggest group-purchasing website with an estimated market value of $1.1 billion. Wu said the company has no plans for an initial pubic offering and will not make a profit at least for the next two years.
Laoshou currently provides services in 500 Chinese cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taipei. The company aims to expand in Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand and Singapore in the second half of this year, according to Wu.
"I always said to myself, if Lashou can achieve a success in China, it can succeed in overseas markets too," he said. Wu's reasoning is simple: He believes that anyone who can survive the fierce competition in China is destined to survive in other countries.
According to a February report issued by London-based research firm Frost & Sullivan, there were 1,880 group-buying websites in China by the end of last year, with total transaction revenue of 8.86 billion yuan ($1.36 billion).
Among them, Lashou, Meituan.com and Nuomi.com topped the list as the most-visited group-buying websites in China. Industry analysts estimate more than 90 percent of Chinese group-buying websites barely make enough money to ensure survival.
Lashou has 4,000 employees and the figure will climb to more than 10,000 by the end of this year.
Wu said his website is not in a hurry to earn a profit, but the biggest task now is to provide better services, which will lead "the company to expand and grow quickly".
Lashou hopes to become an enterprise like Haidilao - a Chinese hotpot brand, which is famous for its hospitality. "If your service is beyond customers' expectations, making money is out of question," Wu said.
