Shanghai-based MyMRO — formerly Grainger China until Grainger sold off the unit in September 2020 — announced Wednesday that it has completed a new round of financing.
The company said it has raised several hundred million yuan, or at least $30 million USD, in a B-round of financing led by China investment firm FountainVest Partners.
Grainger first announced the Grainger China divestment in June of 2020 in a move aimed at focusing more on key businesses and geographies. It was bought by Zhou Yanhua — the former general manager of Grainger China — and China-based venture capital firm Sinovation Ventures. The transaction completed Sept. 9 of last year, upon which Grainger China immediately raised another several hundred million yuan in A-round financing, led by Sinovation.
According to KrAsia, MyMRO restructured in September before expanding its sales team and building out its logistics network with warehouses in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Tianjin. CEO Lucy Zhou reportedly said the company multiplied its year-over-year revenue growth in 2020's fourth quarter and 2021 first quarter.
“We are standing on the shoulders of a giant,” Zhou told KrAsia, referring to former MyMRO parent Grainger. "This is an advantage no other company in this sector has."
"After the restructuring, MyMRO has gained some momentum in organizational upgrades and technology application, as well as rapid growth,” Yanhua said in MyMRO's statement Wednesday. "In the future, the company will continue to maintain a fast-paced development, further increase investment to help companies in intelligent procurement management system."
FountainVest managing director Eric Chen said her firm has been focusing on investment opportunities in business services and is long-term positive toward the digitization trend of industrial companies.
"MRO procurement in China is huge with current market sizing at a trillion yuan ($141 billion USD). There is plenty of room for digitization to take place, especially under the backdrop of the country’s push to upgrade its manufacturing industry. MYMRO provides with a complete solution for MRO procurement and supply chain management, enabled by its digital capabilities, which helps to optimize cost and increase efficiency for its industrial clients."
KrAsia cites Zhou estimating that a boom in China's MRO sector began around 2017, and that no company in that sector holds more than a 1 percent share in an extremely fragmented MRO market there. Some of MyMRO's top customers include China Energy Investment Corporation, China-based Fortune 500 firms and multinational companies based in China.
MyMRO
