Chinese Groupon-Clone Sees Potential in a Large Market; 24quan.com Completes Round of Financing

USA - English

• USA - English

BEIJING, June 3 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- 24quan.com, a popular Chinese collective buying site, modeled after Groupon, recently closed a round of funding from individual investors with amount raised undisclosed.

24quan.com declined to mention specific details on the aforesaid capital injection. Despite the funding 24quan.com remains relatively bootstrapped and operates on a tight budget, according to 24quan's founder & CEO Yinan Du. "We've formally launched our Series A fundraising process and have received indications of interest from branded VCs who are actively doing diligence on this space. The additional funding from individual investors is meant to be a bridge round and will enable us to continue to grow on our already steep growth trajectory."

The Company will use the fresh capital to expand to additional cities in the upcoming months. 24quan.com is now one of the fastest growing collective buying services in China, both in terms of user traffic and city presence. With over 30 staff, the collective buying site is now present in 3 cities and is the largest of its kind in provincial capital cities such as Wuhan and Zhengzhou. 24quan.com will expand to 6 cities, including tier-1 cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, by the end of this month.

"We see tremendous revenue potential in 2nd-tier cities in mainland China; it is an important part of our growth strategy," said Mr. Du, who grew up in China and was educated at MIT and Harvard Business School.

"While much can be learned from Groupon's success, the operating environment in China is very different which will impact how we select our deals, how we go to market, how we manage vendor relations and how we motivate our cross-country sales force.

"We've assembled an experienced and glocal team who has successfully demonstrated our execution ability to marry Groupon's collective buying innovation into local Chinese cultures.

"We at 24quan.com aim to ensure that every deal we bring is a fresh bargain with great quality, wowing both customers and vendors on a daily basis." According to Mr. Du, 24quan.com will aim to continue to improve deal relevancy for its target customers. "We see 24quan.com eventually becoming a personalized deal serving platform. When customers know what to buy, they go to places like Taobao (eBay of China); when they don't, they come to 24quan."

In addition to assembling an all-local and experienced operating team, the company has formed strategic partnerships with several local media partners with relevant user base demographics. "Our target customers are young adults, often white-collar, who are like us born in the 70s and 80s and love to go out and explore new things in the city."

Collective buying has become one of the hottest topics in China lately, fueled in part by Groupon's recent valuation at $1.2 billion. Reportedly there are now over 300 Groupon clones in mainland China, mostly operating in a single-city scale. Local industry insiders predict that more than one collective buying players like 24quan.comwill be VC-funded within the next 1-2 months.

24quan.com is a popular Chinese Groupon clone, a deal-a-day service offering local discounts to targeted audiences. Groupon ( http://www.groupon.com ) features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in cities across the United States. By promising businesses a minimum number of customers, Groupon can offer deals that aren't available elsewhere.

    For more information, please contact:

     Yinan Du
     24quan.com
     Tel:   +86-189-0111-0324
     Email: [email protected]

SOURCE 24quan.com