Leading Community Fresh Food Brand "Qian Damayi" Closes Nearly RMB 1 Billion Series D Round | Gaorong Ventures News
Boosting efficiency and the customer experience in the fresh food industry, so every meal is truly fresh.
On December 26, Qian Damai — a community fresh grocery (chain) brand that Gaorong Ventures led in its Series C — officially announced the completion of its Series D funding round. The total deal size was nearly 1 billion RMB, led by Cornerstone Capital, with follow-on investments from Taikang Life Insurance, GenBridge Capital, Jianggu Capital, Zhenghan Investment, and LightSource Capital, among others.
The proceeds will be used primarily for regional business expansion, online business development, supply chain integration, nationwide warehouse network deployment, and continued investment in its technology center. Going forward, Qian Damai will further deepen its exploration of an innovative fresh grocery model built on "centralized procurement — unified distribution — standardized stores," continuing to pursue its vision of "selling vegetables globally." In 2019, Qian Damai broke out of South China and entered East and Central China markets in a cross-regional expansion, opening its first Shanghai store in April to strong market response.
Meanwhile, in August 2018, Qian Damai opened its first community fresh grocery chain store in Hong Kong, using this as a springboard for its first step toward connecting with international markets. Currently, Qian Damai's community fresh grocery chain stores span Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhuhai, Huizhou, Zhongshan, Zhaoqing, Qingyuan, Jiangmen, as well as Shanghai, Wuhan, Hong Kong, and other regions. As of the end of November, Qian Damai had 1,652 operating stores.
Feng Jisheng, Chairman and founder of Qian Damai, said: "Qian Damai focuses on community fresh grocery stores and adheres to a daily clearance sales model of 'never selling overnight meat,' allowing consumers to clearly perceive the freshness of our products while also forcing inventory to zero at the store and supply chain levels. Through improved customer experience and greater efficiency, we have been able to develop rapidly. At scale, we can then use large order volumes to transform agriculture, gradually moving it toward standardization, scale, and industrialization — changing the current situation where both production and sales ends of China's agricultural products are fragmented. This improves efficiency and experience in the fresh grocery industry, ultimately fulfilling our mission of making every meal fresh."
Rui Han, Managing Director at Gaorong Ventures, joined the Qian Damai board following this funding round. He said: "Congratulations to the Qian Damai team. We believe Qian Damai has a very simple and effective business model — you could call it the simplicity of the great way. This business model achieves a strong balance between growth and cash flow. Looking ahead, we very much look forward to Qian Damai continuing to deliver value to consumers not only through its core business, but also in new regions and new models."
From its founding, Qian Damai was the first in the industry to put forward the operating philosophy of "never selling overnight meat," experimenting with and validating a "timed clearance" sales model in wet markets that was subsequently emulated by many peers. In addition, Qian Damai was the first in the industry to develop "community franchising" at scale, rapidly expanding its market through a "directly-operated + franchise" management model. In 2017, Qian Damai was also the first to implement an "online never overnight" model, linking online and offline channels to build a three-dimensional sales platform that maximizes coverage of consumers with different needs. The following year, Qian Damai piloted a fresh grocery unmanned cabinet project in Guangzhou, moving the meat and vegetable sales platform to the entrances of residential buildings — bringing the "neighborhood market" even closer to home.
Currently, Qian Damai's fresh food offerings include over 500 quality products across five major categories: vegetables, fruits, meat, aquatic and frozen products, and prepared foods, fully meeting customers' daily needs for fresh ingredients and healthy dining. Qian Damai's full-year 2019 revenue is expected to exceed 7 billion RMB, doubling from 2018. Since 2012, its average annual revenue growth rate has been 277%, making it the undisputed leading brand in China's community fresh grocery industry.
