US-based online grocery retailer Weee! has received $425m in a Series E financing round to expand its food delivery and grocery services into new geographies.
SoftBank Vision Fund Two led the funding, while Greyhound Capital and the company’s existing investors also participated.
Weee! will also use proceeds from the round to expand its product offering across new and existing ethnic groups.
In addition, the company plans to enhance its warehouse automation and artificial intelligence (AI) innovations to improve its customer experience.
Weee! founder and CEO Larry Liu said: ”We’ve seen tremendous growth in 2021, even through the easing of Covid-19 related pressures, as our customers continue to discover affordable access to a wide array of exciting products and food online.
“We look forward to building on that momentum as we add depth to our investor base with Softbank’s global e-commerce expertise and welcome them to the board.
“Their partnership will further enable Weee! to serve customers in the $360bn+ ethnic grocery and food market.”
Weee! is adding more than 500 products each week as it expands its offerings from different regions, including China, Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, the Philippines, India and Central America, for customers.
The company has also partnered with more than 1,000 restaurants to provide food-at-home options.
Softbank Investment Advisors managing partner Lydia Jett will join Weee!’s board of directors.
Jett said: “Weee!’s strong execution capabilities and reach across multiple ethnic groups, coupled with a unique customer experience model leveraging AI, has enabled it to scale effectively in a rapidly evolving grocery market.
“We are delighted to partner with Larry Liu and the team to support their next phase of expansion.”
The funding round comes after Weee! acquired online Asian food delivery company RICEPO in an effort to address customer demands.
