Chinese online grocer Dingdong Maicai nets $700m funding co-led by DST

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Chinese online grocery app Dingdong Maicai has raked in an aggregate of $700 million in its Series D round of financing co-led by investment firms DST Global and Coatue, it announced in a statement on Tuesday.

Existing investors that made follow-on investments in the round include Sequoia Capital China, Tiger Global Management, General Atlantic, CMC Capital, Ocean Link, Capital Today and Hony Capital.                               

Pan-Asia equity investment firm Aspex Management, Shanghai-based 3W Fund Management, APlus Partners, Mass Ave Global and Cygnus Equity also participated in the round.  

Dingdong Maicai will use the proceeds from the latest funding round to expand to new areas and develop the supply chain. 

The online grocer delivers fresh produce to users’ doorsteps in 27 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou. It saw a surge in sales last year due to the pandemic, recording over 850,000 orders per day and monthly revenue of 1.5 billion yuan ($229 million). 

Dingdong has previously said it was considering an initial public offering (IPO) in the US as early as this year to bankroll its expansion in the competitive fresh food delivery market. 

In May 2020, the company had raised $300 million in funding that valued it at $2 billion, Reuters had reported.

Prior to that round, the online grocer had closed at least eight funding rounds from investors including Bertelsmann Asia Investments (BAI), Qiming Venture Partners, Gaorong Capital, Fortune Capital, Longfor Capital and Macalline Group. 

Other players in China’s online grocery delivery market include Tencent-backed MissFresh and delivery platforms launched by Alibaba, JD.com, Meituan Dianping and Didi Chuxing. 

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