Maitao，a startup focusing on the family travel market, has made a full acquisition of Wuhan-based Daocaoren Camp and converted it into its Wuhan “branch”.
Maitao's website
The Wuhan-based family activity platform Daocaoren Camp was established in late 2014 by a leading online expert Tao Chen，who held senior positions in major IT and media companies. Co-founder Yun Wang worked for P&G for 10 years and has strong expertise in managing sales channels, building customer base and service. The core team also comprises gold-rated parenting coaches in Wuhan and “super mums”. The team has produced and launched over 10 activities in Wuhan in half a year.
Mr. Chen said they joined Maitao because of its equal and decentralized organization structure. He was also drawn to Maitao Kids Hobby Academy, which has already established its presence and brand equity in the market.
“We enjoy plenty of freedom in product design and incentives for our team under Maitao, and we can also share its comprehensive IT platform and internal systems. This means we now have a much larger platform on which we can achieve our dreams,” he said. Mr. Chen will also be appointed Maitao’s central China regional director after the merger.
Maitao had previously received a RMB40 million investment from Kaiwu Capital in its A Series financing round. Its acquisition of Daocaoren Camp is the first time it expands through capital investment. It is also an important step into the central China market. Following the acquisition, Maitao’s national business network encompasses Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Ma On Shan.
Maitao’s founder Zhen Xie was formerly COO at major OTA eLong. He launched the platform in the family travel segment after leaving eLong.(Translation by David)
