Ztore will explore developing cross-border e-commerce in the next two years to bring local brands to markets in the APAC region

Ztore.com, an online shopping platform based in Hong Kong, has announced that it has raised US$8 million (over HK$ 62 million) in Series B funding led by Welight Capital, with participating from Kwai Hung Group.

This round takes the company’s total investment raised till date to over US$20 million.

With the new funding, Ztore will hire and train more tech talent to develop in-house R&D that advances its warehouse and logistics management system for a more convenient and variety of delivery options for customers. In the near future, Ztore seeks to overcome the complex logistic challenges in Hong Kong and implement a streamlined delivery process.

“With the successful Series B financing, we will be able to advance our operating systems, develop new technologies to enhance the shopping platform, and launch new services. At the same time, we strive to lower our logistics costs and pass those savings along to customers to ensure they reap the benefits of shopping at Ztore.com,” Danny Shum, Co-founder and CEO of Ztore.com, said.

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Founded in 2015, Ztore.com features over 1,000 products from local brands that are made in Hong Kong. It aims to grow with fellow businesses in the city by empowering local brands and SMEs. There are currently over 330,000 SMEs in Hong Kong, accounting for 98 per cent of total number of registered enterprises, many of which are ‘micro-enterprises’ including family-run businesses, while some only produce and sell a small amount of high quality products.

Ztore also offers Neigbuy, a new community collective-buying business model with an aim to serve more people in Hong Kong. Residents form a small community network with neighbours living in residential blocks nearby can order from a selection of products, ranging from fresh produce and groceries, specially curated for each community by Neigbuy Team every day.

While laser-focused on the local market, Ztore will continue to explore overseas and aims to develop cross-border e-commerce in the next two years, bringing local brands to markets in the APAC region.

The firm has previously raised funding from S.F. Express and Vectr Ventures.

Free Wu Xiaoguang, Co-founder of Welight Capital (former Senior Executive Vice President of Tencent), said: “Ztore has a great business idea and operation model that not only is growing rapidly, but it is also leading the growth of the whole retail industry in Hong Kong. We are a true believer in the team who delivers a better living to Hongkongers. We are very positive about the prospects of Hong Kong e-commerce, and are delighted to support Hong Kong startups with great potential such as Ztore.”

Despite Hong Kong lagging behind in e-commerce with e-commerce absolute numbers accounting for just 4.7 per cent of total sales, significantly lower than 14.6 per cent in APAC, revenue is expected to show annual growth of 8.6 per cent from 2018 to 2022.

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