Startup Eight Days (8天在线) has revealed a series C of undisclosed size led by Chinese retailer Suning. The online grocery delivery company made the announcement on Wednesday at a conference held in Suzhou.
Eight Days targets university students, delivering a range of products including groceries, midnight snacks, and even laptops. The company also operates offline convenience stores inside university campuses in China. Currently there are more than 100 convenience stores in Suzhou, and the company wants to increase that number to 500 in Suzhou and Nanjing by the end of 2016.
Suning’s strategic investment in Eight Days is built on synergies between the retailer’s goods and Eight days’ electronics business. Suning is hoping to tap their market of university students and build brand loyalty that lasts after graduation.
“Suning’s investment in Eight Days is not simply about financial investments… [it’s] more importantly Suning’s attempt to broaden its retail ecosystem platform.” Tian Rui, vice president of marketing at Suning said in a release.
The company moved its head quarters from Nanjing to Suzhou since the latter has more opportunity for new convenience stores, the company says. Eight Days and Suning established a strategic relationship during last year’s Single’s Day event, China’s largest sale day for e-commerce platforms.
“We tried to upgrade floor efficiency and other indicators higher than [competitor] Family Mart. We are now taking advantage of summer vacations in universities to open more convenience stores on campus,” founder of Eight Days, Gu Wen said.
Eight Days also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Longliqi, Sudatiangong, Suzhou University Tuanwei, and Suzhou Bank.
Image Credit: Eight Days