Dada-JD Daojia raises US$500m from Walmart, JD.com
BE IJI NG/S HAN GHA I: Da da- JD Daojia, a Chinese online grocery and delivery firm, said yesterday it has raised US$500 million (RM2 billion) from Walmart Inc and JD.com Inc in its latest round of financing.
The company comprises two businesses and is partly owned by JD.com. Dada operates a network of five million delivery men, while JD Daojia partners with retail stores and provides one-hour delivery services of groceries and other items.
Walmart said it invested about US$320 million in the latest fundraising.
The Arkansas-based company’s partnership with Dada-JD Daojia dated back to 2016 when it had invested US$50 million, it said, adding that 200 Walmart stores in 30 major Chinese cities currently had a presence in JD Daojia.
“We are confident that this deeper collaboration with DadaJD Daojia will enhance our omnichannel footprint and deliver a better O2O (online to offline) customer experience,” said WernYuen Tan, president and chief executive officer of Walmart China.
The global retail giant has been pushing to integrate its retail network in China with the country’s burgeoning “smart retail” movement, as retailers and tech giants such as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Tencent Holdings Ltd cut deals to combine shoppers’ online and offline experience.