Xiaomi and Shunwei China Internet Fund Lead Financing Round with Co-Investment from Matrix Partners China, Temasek, Ventech China, and Magic Stone Alternative

September 10, 2014

Beijing, Jimubox, a leading Chinese P2P lending platform based in Beijing, today announced that it has completed a $37.19 million Series B funding round, led by Xiaomi and the Shunwei China Internet Fund. The Series B funding round attracted strong investor demand and included co-investment from Matrix Partners China, Vertex Venture Holdings (Temasek Holdings), Series A investor Ventech China, and Magic Stone Alternative. China e-Capital Corporation acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Jimubox for this funding round.

During the press conference to announce the financing, both Jimubox and Xiaomi were optimistic about the strategic cooperation opportunities between the two companies. “We value the strong market experience and operational ability held by the Jimubox team, a mutual sense of core values, and similar operational ideas. We believe that through this equity investment both parties will be able to advance strategic business development opportunities,” said Hong Feng, Co-Founder of Xiaomi.

Shunwei has closely followed the development of Internet finance, and supports venture stage companies in this sector as they seek innovation. “Shunwei is optimistic about Jimubox’s rapid development and business innovation in the Internet finance industry, and believes in the execution ability of Jimubox’s management team. Shunwei is interested in supporting Jimubox’s long-term development,” said Tuck Lye Koh, Founding Partner and CEO of Shunwei.

“Matrix is optimistic about the direction of Internet finance, with its huge market demand and opportunities. In the last year, Jimubox has grown at a rapid pace, and regulatory policy has gradually become more and more clear,” said Harry Man, Partner, Matrix China Partners. “On the other hand, Jimubox’s team, technology and risk management ability are very impressive, and conform with Matrix’s Internet finance investment logic.”

The Jimubox team, with extensive experience in both the Internet and credit finance industries, has built a market leading financial marketplace focused on transparency of information and mutual fairness. The Jimubox platform facilitates SME loans and individual consumption loans for under-banked Chinese borrowers by providing investment opportunities to RMB investors through an innovative online marketplace that leverages transparency and technology to ensure investor safety. Jimubox has completed almost 2 billion RMB of new issue loans since launching in August of 2013.

While maintaining its high growth rate, Jimubox has never compromised its adherence to full legal and regulatory compliance and a rigid risk management system. Jimubox performs primary due diligence on every project listed on the platform and is at the forefront of advancing new regulations for the industry and maintaining a standard of strict legal compliance.

Jimubox has developed a multi-layer investor protection scheme that involves third party guarantee companies, cash-based security deposits, and a borrower-funded mutual risk protection mechanism. Additionally, Jimubox has pioneered the concept of investor observation groups -- the “Jimu Jury” -- which provides select investors with monthly access to information and documents that are unable to be disclosed directly on the Jimubox website. These innovative measures ensure that Jimubox is a market leader in providing the highest level of transparency and investor protection.

“We thank the investment community for their acknowledgment of Jimubox, our customer and platform investors’ confidence in us, and the government regulators continued support and guidance for our industry. Xiaomi is one of the most important companies in the China mobile Internet industry. Having Xiaomi as a shareholder will drive us to more quickly achieve our goal to build the leading Internet finance marketplace in China. We will provide faster, more efficient, and lower cost financing solutions that will stimulate the growth of the overall economy,” said Dong Jun, Founder and CEO of Jimubox.

The capital raised in the Series B funding will be used to continue building out Jimubox’s team, enhancements to risk management technology systems, product development, and business expansion into new regions and markets.