Exchange Database

US funded Chinese fashion website targets a new customer segment

Backed by US funding, an online fashion website in China aims to tap into a younger generation of consumers who shopping online for clothing, accessories and jewelry. Yetang is an online Chinese website specializing in fashion and other products from independent designers. The company has secured funding from IDG Capital Partners, a US venture capital firm that is based in China. Yetang's co-founders, Natasia Guo and Zhang Yan, said IDG found they had a good track record of working with independent designers, which encouraged them to fund their enterprise.
Outcomes: 
Last month, Yetang, which translates into wild candy in Chinese, has had 720,000 visitors and 250,000 registered members. The site offers 15,000 products from more than 500 brands. Yetang fulfills its orders by directing them to the supplier which then has the product shipped to the customer. This means Yetang doesn't carry any inventory. The site is also dedicated to marketing independent designers to the general public. Four years ago, starting an independent label as an entrepreneur was very expensive as factories in China wouldn't take small orders from independent designers. Zhang said that when the apparel export business stopped growing, Chinese factories started looking inward and began to work with independent designers, lowering the price of production. "That made the barrier to entrepreneurship lower for a lot of designers," Zhang said.
Government?: 
No
Type of Exchange: 
business
Partners: 
Yetang
Sponsor(s): 
IDG Capital Partners
Participants (Types): 
entrepreneurs, designers, investors
Exchange Date: 
Thursday, August 7, 2014
Continuing: 
No
Image: 
Location: 
China
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