Wechat’s third-party service provider Weimob announced it has already raised RMB500 million（approx：US$78.5 million）of the two billion yuan （approx：US$314 million） targeted for its C Series financing. HNA Group is the lead investor of this round of financing which is Weimob’s second financing round in only half a year, following its April B Series financing that raised RMB150 million（approx：US$23.5 million）.
Weimob's Mengdian app allows individuals to open online stores on smartphones
Weimob was established in April 2013 and launched its social sales distribution platform in 2014 to provide a technology platform for traditional retailers to make use of the Wechat retail system. The system has over one million corporate users currently. In March 2015, it also launched Mengdian, a platform for individuals to open stores free of charge.
So far, Mengdian has drawn over 12 million registered users and over 10,000 listed shops including famous brands like Toread, Handu, Jinzi Ham and Diplomat. It has over three million stock-keeping units in inventory, and transaction volume on the platform is expected to exceed two billion yuan this year.
Weimob’s founder and CEO Taoyong Sun said the company would use the latest funds to make Mengdian the top mobile social ecommerce platform in China. In an internal email, he said Mengdian planned to become one of the top three companies in the segment with the next three years and the top within five years.
Mengdian is investing RMB100 million （approx：US$15.7 million）to send out “red envelop” cash prizes as part of its Singles Day November 11 sale. Over five million red envelopes will be sent out en-masse through its app, Wechat moments and screen shake function. Weimob is investing a further RMB200 million （approx：US$31.4 million）in advertising to direct traffic to its platform where users can participate in the red envelope campaign during the promotion period.(Translation by David）
