Led · Series C · Apr 2015

Meican is a Chinese catering technology startup. The company completed a Series E2 financing, announced in a company statement on Thursday. The round totaled over $157 million. The financing was provided exclusively by existing investor Sodexo. The article does not disclose the use of proceeds, valuation, operating metrics, or prior rounds. No additional financial or strategic details were reported in the statement covered by the article. Meican is a Chinese catering technology solutions provider that builds technology solutions for the catering industry. The company focuses on offering software and technology services to catering businesses. According to the article, Meican has completed a significant funding round, signaling investor interest. Meican raised $100 million in a Series E round of financing. The round was provided by Centurium Capital, a private equity investment manager. The article does not disclose operating metrics, valuation, or the intended use of proceeds. Meican (meican.com) is an enterprise meal-ordering platform founded in 2011 that serves thousands of corporate clients and their employees. Its product offers online ordering, business meal services and team buffet solutions, and it currently covers major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Chengdu. The company says annual transaction volume has reached several hundred million RMB, revenue grew over 800% year-over-year, and its commission rate exceeds 10%, giving it a leading market share in the corporate consumption segment. Meican was co-founded by Zhao Xiao and Xu Yang; Zhao Xiao serves as CEO. After taking a strategic investment from Dianping, Meican plans to accelerate city coverage and expand the number of serviced enterprises to build an "eat-drink-play" integrated services platform for corporate customers. Meican.com operates an online food-ordering website listing nearly 30,000 restaurants across Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen. The company is led by CEO Zhao Xiao with co-founder Xu Yang and team members Ren Zili and Hu Guowu. It closed a $10M Series B financing led by Nokia Growth Partners with participation from previous investor Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In conjunction with the round, David Tang of NGP will join Meican.com's board of directors. Meican.com intends to use the funds to recruit staff, improve products and add merchants. The company had previously raised a Series A from Kleiner Perkins and an angel investment from Xu Xiaoping’s ZhenFund.

Participated · Series E · Jan 2015

Ele.me operates a mobile and online food-delivery platform based in Shanghai. The company matches consumers with restaurants for on‑demand food delivery via its app. According to reports, Ele.me secured over $1 billion in funding that will value the company at $6 billion once finalized. The financing, led by Alibaba and its financial services arm, is intended to strengthen Ele.me’s market position. The round is framed as a move to help Ele.me compete head-to-head with Meituan-Dianping. The articles note broader market tailwinds from online-to-offline services and mobile payments driving growth in China’s on‑demand economy. Ele.me is a Shanghai-based food-delivery service operating a restaurant delivery marketplace. The company is a major participant in China's O2O (online-to-offline) market and partners with restaurants to fulfill on-demand orders. According to Crunchbase, Ele.me has previously raised about $1.09 billion in total, including a $630 million Series F announced in August. A reported $1.25 billion investment from Alibaba would make Alibaba the company's largest shareholder and further integrate Ele.me into Alibaba's O2O strategy. Ele.me's investor list includes major Chinese tech companies such as Tencent and JD.com, underscoring its strategic backing and competitive landscape. TechCrunch cites Caixin and notes that Alibaba and Ele.me were contacted for comment. Ele.me operates an O2O food-delivery platform and claims to be operating in 260 cities across China. The company’s business model is described in the article as burning cash rapidly and being geographically overstretched. A recent reported funding claim of $630M has been publicly disputed by a source who said the total was less than $400M and that the valuation is around $1.5B rather than $3B. Ele.me defended the reported figure, saying “the figure is correct” and dismissing contrary reports as rumors. The source also said incoming capital is being delivered in tranches tied to milestone achievements, which the article frames as a negative sign. Existing investors Sequoia Capital and Matrix Partners are noted in the coverage and did not respond to requests for comment. Ele.me is a Shanghai-based food delivery service operating throughout China via mobile apps and web. The platform serves 250 cities, lists 200,000 restaurants, and has 20 million users. In 2014 its total order volume reached 110 million renminbi, with 75% of orders made through mobile apps. The company raised $350 million in a Series E round. Investors in the round include CITIC, Tencent, JD.com, Dianping.com, and Sequoia Capital, and Ele.me said it will continue to operate independently. The investment aligns Ele.me with Tencent, JD.com and Dianping and could support broader online-to-offline (O2O) integrations, including potential use within Tencent's WeChat.