Ethnic E-Grocer Weee! Raises $315M in Series D Led by DST Global with Participation from Blackstone, Arena Holdings, and Tiger Global
FREMONT, Calif., March 18, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Weee! (www.sayweee.com), the leading ethnic e-grocer in the United States, today announced $315 million in Series D financing led by existing investor DST Global. New investors include funds managed by Blackstone, Arena Holdings, and Tiger Global; significantly deepening the company's capital base. The new capital will be used to further accelerate the company's geographic expansion with the most efficient fulfilment technology, build a stronger and more diverse product assortment, recruit exceptional talent, and invest in engaging the broader Asian and Hispanic communities with state-of-the-art personalization features.
"Ethnic communities have been overlooked in the online and retail space. We believe the opportunity to provide these fast growing communities access to exciting and affordable groceries is tremendous," said Larry Liu, founder and CEO of Weee! "We are thrilled to leverage DST Global and our new investors' strategic view on the future of retail and vast experience building and scaling technology companies to accelerate our mission."
"Weee! has a unique understanding of how explosive growth can be achieved sustainably in the emerging online grocery space," said Rahul Mehta, managing partner at DST Global. "The team's back-to-basics focus on merchandising, everyday low prices, and remarkable social shopping approach are what sets Weee! apart, and we're excited to deepen our support for their mission."
While grocery remains the lowest penetrated retail segment within the e-commerce landscape, the grocery market for ethnic customers is expected to surpass $464 billion by 20301. Weee!'s current category assortment spans ethnic ingredients essential to Asian and Hispanic cuisines, catering to an underserved population with >20% growth since 20102. Weee! Currently serves 14 key regions coast-to-coast and aims to expand to 30 cities across North America by 2024.
About Weee! Inc.
Weee! was founded in 2015 with the belief that quality, freshness, and accessibility shouldn't ever be compromised when it comes to food. Loved and recognized as a trusted household brand among underserved communities, Weee! makes convenient and affordable access to specialty products and everyday essentials possible. Products are guaranteed to be delivered at peak freshness and priced lower than or comparable to offline stores. No subscription is required to shop and next-day delivery is free with a low order minimum. The company continues to redefine online grocery shopping by leveraging social e-commerce and proprietary forecasting technology.
Weee! is headquartered in Fremont, California and has received $415M+ in funding from Arena Holdings, Blackstone, DST Global, Goodwater Capital, iFly.vc, Lightspeed Ventures, Tiger Global, VMG, and XVC.
For more information, please visit www.sayweee.com/en or follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statement
This announcement contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide our current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about our expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "strive," "will" or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Examples of forward-looking statements in this announcement include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our disclosure concerning the Company's operations, cash flows, financial position and dividend policy.
Press Contact
pr@sayweee.com
1 U.S. Grocery Market Share, Statista
2 U.S. Census Bureau Releases 2019 Population Estimates by Demographic Characteristics
SOURCE Weee
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