Chinese shared kitchens provider Panda Selected has raised US$50 million in series C round of financing led by Tiger Global with participation from its existing investors DCM and GenBridge Capital, according to a statement released on Friday.
The new round, which brings the total capital raised by Panda Selected to US$80 million, will pave its way for expansion to new markets across China and strengthen Panda Selected’s merchant services.
The investment came as statistics show that China’s food-delivery market was worth US$33 billion by the end of 2018, almost doubled the size of the U.S. market.
Panda Selected, founded in April 2016 and based in Beijing, was born amid an emerging trend of "the shared kitchen concept" in China. The company enables restaurants to set up kitchens to cater exclusively for customers ordering in, and share facilities with others which greatly eliminates overhead costs. It employs the shared kitchen model to provide catering enterprises with integrated solutions like commercial real estate, operation management, supply chain, brand promotion.
The company currently serves more than 800 Chinese domestic food and beverage brands including the country’s biggest hot pot chain Haidilao and coffee chain start-up Luckin Coffee. With 120 locations across China, Panda Selected seeks to grow its footprint by doubling the amount over the next eight months.
"The shared kitchen concept is a critical piece to keeping up with China’s US$33 billion food-delivery market," said Hurst Lin, co-founder and general partner of DCM China. "Panda Selected’s phenomenal growth trajectory is a testament to the ability of its experienced management team to scale up efficiently."
Panda Selected completed a US$20 million series B round of financing led by Chinese investors GenBridge Capital and Vision Knight Capital in August 2018.
