Busy Snacks Closes First Funding Round of 240 Million Yuan to Build a Next-Generation National Snack Brand
It didn't just build brand value — it created an entire snacking infrastructure.
Specialty snack retail chain "Busy Snacks" (零食很忙) recently closed a RMB 240 million Series A round, with Gaorong Ventures co-leading the investment. This marks the company's first external funding round, with proceeds earmarked primarily for national expansion and brand upgrading.
Busy Snacks opened its first franchised store in Changsha in March 2017. Riding a franchise-based offline model, the chain grew rapidly to over 450 locations within four years, distinguishing itself in a crowded field of snack retail competitors.
China's snack market is vast, currently in an early mature phase following a period of rapid development. According to a Ministry of Commerce report, the industry's total output value exceeded RMB 3 trillion in 2020, with a projected compound annual growth rate above 8% from 2020 to 2024 — potentially surpassing RMB 4 trillion by 2024.
Snack consumption is no longer confined to holidays; it has become daily staple demand for ordinary consumers. Yet the current landscape relies on fragmented convenience stores and supermarkets as incidental channels. This thin supply-side infrastructure has kept latent snack demand from fully unleashing, leaving massive untapped potential.
Busy Snacks addresses this with a new solution: professional neighborhood snack shops. The company infuses what it calls "craftsman spirit" — meticulousness, tradition-breaking, and scientific innovation — into chain retail, targeting the broadest possible consumer segment with better quality, better value snacks to build a truly national snack brand.
Founder Zhou Yan believes today's consumers are more discerning and rational, fully capable of judging product quality. With reverence for consumers, Busy Snacks rigorously evaluates snacks across taste, price, packaging, and other metrics to carefully curate thousands of products best suited for sophisticated buyers. Combined with bulk vending formats, scientific zoning displays, and other thoughtful touches, the model further lowers purchase barriers — demonstrating keen consumer insight.
In Yan's view, snack consumption carries deep emotional resonance: the moment of finally getting a long-coveted treat after waiting in line, or the surprise of discovering a full bag costs far less than expected — these are the instants when Busy Snacks captures and occupies consumer mindshare.
This year, Busy Snacks formally kicks off national expansion. Built on its proprietary standardized store management system, the company ensures consistent execution across locations — uniform operations and genuinely professional, warm service. The goal, as Yan puts it, is to "make franchise even better than direct operation," extending professional snack retail to more consumers.
Rui Han, partner at Gaorong Ventures, sees Busy Snacks as more than brand value — the company has built out comprehensive snack consumption infrastructure. The team is highly innovative, expanding at exceptional speed beyond traditional approaches to become a snack industry leader. With Gaorong's support, Han hopes Busy Snacks maintains its rapid growth, creating ever more extreme value for consumers and opening new possibilities for industry innovation.
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