Beijing-based e-invoicing firm HOSE EKUAIBAO has raked in 1 billion yuan ($154 million) in a Series D round led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, the investee announced on Monday.
It brings the total corpus raised by the company to over 1.5 billion yuan ($231 million).
A slew of existing investors participated in the round including American investment giant Tiger Global Management, tech bellwether Sequoia Capital China, Hong Kong-based Mandra Capital, and Future Capital.
EKUAIBAO had closed four other rounds of funding from K2VC, Yinxinggu Capital, Nasdaq-listed Chinese online travel agency Tuniu, and early-stage investment firm Geek Founders.
Chinese boutique investment bank Global Financing facilitated the transaction.
Sequoia Capital China, Tiger Global, and Future Capital had partnered with DCM to collectively pump $50 million in EKUAIBAO’s Series C and C+ rounds in September 2020.
The new development comes as the Chinese government is speeding up the digital transformation of the economy. In February this year, the country advanced the electronic special value-added tax (VAT) invoice programme in an attempt to expand e-invoicing across the country.
Established in 2014, Beijing-based EKUAIBAO offers software-as-a-service (SaaS) based digital invoice tools for enterprises. Its all-in-one solution has been used by over 4,000 clients including state-backed realty major Greenland Group, Fosun Pharma, and Geely Holding.
“Cost control has always been a cumbersome and time-consuming process. We believe that HOSE EKUAIBO can help enterprises manage expenses and control costs more effectively,” said SoftBank Vision Fund 2 managing partner Kentaro Matsui in the statement.
“Lowering cost and increasing efficiency through enterprise service will be a megatrend in 5-10 years,” added Future Capital founding partner Huang Mingming.