Social e-commerce platform Sibu Group has secured a RMB 50 million ($7 million) B round from China Growth Capital.
The fund will be used to boost the R&D and marketing of its mini program project dubbed 77 Seconds (77秒), a service that allows small cosmetic retailers to create mini programs for their WeChat micro stores.
“Sibu now has three home-grown traffic platforms, New Weishang (新微商), V Store (V商城) and 77 Seconds to cover online and offline marketing channels. We provide a whole set of customized services to entrepreneurs in terms of capital support, mentorship and technology,” said Wu Zhaoguo, chairman of Sibu.
WeChat’s micro business allows users to sell goods and services to their contacts, advertising them through Moments, the app’s status update function. Cosmetics are among the most popular categories for these WeChat-based retailers. Sibu Group, which started as a Chinese cosmetics company in March 2014, prospered along with the rise of WeChat micro business wave in China. It now claims over 2.1 million dealers and over 50k active dealers worldwide.
After receiving RMB50 million A round from SAIF Partners this January, the Guangzhou-based company has invested over RMB 100 million this year for branding. It plans to launch C round funding this July and head for a Hong Kong IPO within two years, according to Wu.