Source Code Capital portfolio company WANGBAOBAO announced the completion of a Series C financing round worth several hundred million yuan, with existing shareholder Source Code Capital continuing to increase its stake.

源码资本·December 2, 2020·1·5

Leveraging brand momentum to continuously break into new circles, it has already covered over 10,000 offline retail terminals, with offline sales accounting for 40% of total volume in a single month.

Health food brand WANGBAOBAO has closed a nine-figure RMB Series C round today, led by Matrix Partners China with Hillhouse joining as a new investor. Existing shareholders Source Code Capital, Black Ant Capital, and Vertex Ventures China also increased their stakes. WANGBAOBAO previously raised three rounds in late 2018, late 2019, and early 2020. As the company's largest institutional shareholder, this marks Source Code Capital's third consecutive follow-on investment since leading the Series A two years ago. Proceeds will go toward brand building and continued supply chain upgrades.

Founded in May 2018, WANGBAOBAO ranked first among cereal brands on Tmall during 2019's Singles' Day. It defended that title through this year's 3.8 Queen's Festival, 618 Shopping Festival, and 2020 Singles' Day, averaging over 300% annual growth. Beyond sustained online momentum, its offline push — launched in March this year — has expanded rapidly, with coverage exceeding 10,000 retail terminals and offline sales now accounting for over 40% of total volume.

Strong product capabilities, consistently delivering what consumers want, form the foundation of the brand's rapid growth

This year, WANGBAOBAO has maintained heavy investment in R&D, covering both new product development and iteration of existing lines. The brand's cereal sticks to a "non-puffed" process, using an industry-first baked cereal production line that maximizes retention of natural dietary fiber — delivering on the promise of "tasty without the weight gain." New flavored varieties launched this year, including Coffee & Nut Baked Cereal, Taro Milk Tea Baked Cereal, and Cheese Strawberry Baked Cereal, represent clear differentiation in texture, taste, and aroma, using healthier ingredients for a crunchier bite.

Beyond its signature baked cereals, WANGBAOBAO has broadened its instant cereal lineup to serve diverse consumer needs. Hot-pour varieties like Pumpkin Baby Instant Cereal, Black Tea Latte Instant Cereal, and Matcha Konjac Instant Cereal bring flavor innovation to traditional instant cereal. Freeze-dried red beans, freeze-dried pumpkin cubes, and other healthy ingredients enrich the taste, letting consumers genuinely feel the "happiness" of added nutrition with reduced burden. Balancing flavor and health — this philosophy runs through every aspect of WANGBAOBAO's product design.

Different package sizes address different consumption scenarios too: family stock-ups, on-the-go single servings, and more, with supply chain improvements enabling tailored product formats for each.

Breaking out of niche circles, completing omnichannel coverage

In just over two years, WANGBAOBAO's product and brand efforts have built formidable brand momentum. While online growth stays strong, offline expansion has been exceptionally fast — now covering 10,000+ retail terminals with offline sales hitting 40% of monthly volume in a single month. Offline channels focus on KA hypermarkets including Freshippo, RT-Mart, and Yonghui Superstores. Select O2O channels have also developed well, such as Tmall Same-City Delivery and Dingdong Maicai.

In 2020, WANGBAOBAO has continued its steady brand-building approach. Collaborations with the Luo Xiaohei IP and Yili Group's Zhennong series have helped the brand break into new circles. On social media — its core strength — WANGBAOBAO maintains broad platform coverage across Douyin, Weibo, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu, sustaining high exposure while executing a combined playbook from "campaign creativity" to "information distribution" to "consumer awareness establishment."

The essence of brand building lies in understanding consumer demands, then identifying opportunities to deliver greater value

WANGBAOBAO founder and CEO Yao Jing said: "The rise of a strong brand will inevitably help grow the entire category. WANGBAOBAO's marketing approach has helped drive the industry forward, but only through continuously understanding consumer needs and uncovering their underlying motivations and real decision-making logic can we sustain our category leadership."

Continuously understanding consumer demands is the fundamental driver of sustainable brand development. As scale has grown, WANGBAOBAO has steadily invested in consumer insights. It has built an internal consumer strategy team for refined operations and targeting, and regularly partners with external research and consulting firms on themed studies. This ongoing exploration of real category needs — using both quantitative data and qualitative sensing — points the way for future business development.

Thus, WANGBAOBAO is highly selective about brand communication choices. This determines what kind of perception a new brand establishes in consumers' minds. After rapidly becoming category leader in 2019, a flood of partnership opportunities arrived; the team carefully weighs each against long-term brand needs, setting clear objectives before acting, always staying true to its brand direction.

The cereal and grain category's rapid growth over the past two years has expanded from online to all channels. In this environment, the ability to build brands efficiently, iterate products quickly, and operate omnichannel with precision will be key to winning future consumer choice.