Deeper into China: CoAssets invests US$145K in a Chinese product crowdfunding platform

By Anisa Menur A. Maulani for e27

Australian Stock Exchange (ASX)-listed startup CoAssets today announced that it has made a RMB1 million (US$145,000) strategic investment in Fujian-based crowdfunding startup Da Xian Bing, for 10 per cent of the company, with 60 per cent to be recouped from CoAssets’ joint venture partner Fujian Yaosheng.

Some of the key terms of the investment includes additional performance-based consideration of up to RMB4 million (US$582,000), linked to reveue and user base hurdles. CoAssets will also appoint one of four directors to the board of Da Xian Bing.

According to a press statement by the company, CoAssets is looking forward to increase its China user base by 300,000 within six months of the investment in Da Xian Bing.

Da Xian Bing itself operates in the space of product crowdfunding, instead of investment crowdfunding like CoAssets, but the company believes that there is good potential and synergy for the overlap between users.

“We will be rolling out a series of marketing initiatives to engage Da Xian Bing users and we hope to convert most, if not all, of them to become registered investors of our CoAssets China platform,” explained CoAssets CTO and Co-Founder Dr. Seh Huan Kiat.

“With the 70,000 registered investors that we already have, we expect to see more than 370,000 registered investors by mid-2017 and potentially exceed the 400,000 registered investors market by end 2017. If we are able to maintain our investor conversion rate and investment amount at the average of about two per cent and S$10,000 (US$7,000) respectively, the amount of crowdfunding projects we can undertake will significantly increase,” he added.

Prior to this investment, CoAssets has already have its own operation in China, via a 40 per cent joint venture with Fujian Yaosheng.

It began listing at the ASX on September 2016.

First appeared at e27