Cathay Capital leads series B funding round of Brass Master
May 4, 2020
Asia
Cathay Capital leads series B funding round of Brass Master
Brass Master today announces it has raised RMB 310 million (about €39m) as part of a series B funding round which was led by Cathay Capital through its Small Cap fund, with participation from GX Capital and Yunmu Capital. Investors which participated in the series A funding round – Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi Investment and Haiquan Fund – continue to endorse the company.
Founded by Guang YU and part of Hangzhou Xijiang Culture & Creative Corp., Brass Master focuses on designing and producing brass works. Hangzhou Xijiang Culture & Creative Corp. also owns brands such as Bronze Wood, which is dedicated to developing the online furniture market, and Master XI, which develops offline channels for the future. Guang YU calls this portfolio a “troika” and hopes this new funding round will help it grow faster in the future.
(Master piece of Brass Master: Yunchang GUAN)
Since its creation 4 years ago, Brass Master has been relying on the Internet, cultural innovation and traditional manufacturing to grow. It has maintained an annual growth rate of more than 100%, its income exceeded RMB 250 million (€32m) last year and the company is expected to complete more than RMB 600 million (€76m) in sales in 2018.
Lanchun DUAN, Managing Partner at Cathay Capital, commented: “The new generation in China is pursuing a better quality of life which can be observed through their demand for a better household. However, the market lacks quality products with fair prices, offering many business opportunities. Brass Master accurately penetrates this market segment, winning customers with ultimate quality and high cost-performance products. At the same time, relying on its expertise in online marketing, it has become a leading brand of home furnishing and is now preparing for the future. Cathay will help Brass Master with continuing to explore the Chinese market with its extended network in the furniture sector and retail industries in China, Europe and the United States. Cathay will also promote the cooperation between Brass Master and outstanding international companies and IPs to achieve strategic breakthrough and developments.”
Guang YU always insists on the fact that a good product “touches people and has a friendly price”. Thanks to strong cultural innovation abilities and ultimate cost performance, he made his way through the home accessories and furniture markets and has achieved rapid development.
Because of their popularity, Brass Master’s products are often short of supply. 80% of the products in store currently have a “pre-sale” status. In September 2017, Brass Master secured a Series A funding round led by Shunwei Capital and Xiaomi Investment and quickly expanded its factories and added equipment soon after, doubling productivity, but still struggled to keep up with the growing demand.
Speaking of the purpose of the funding round, Guang YU said the money will be invested in production expansion, especially that of furniture lines, to meet the growing demand. The money will also be used to greatly enhance internal organization, making sales and production management more efficient, extend product lines appropriately and work with other companies within the Xiaomi ecosystem, providing better home products to the loyal customers of Brass Master.
After obtaining an IP authorization from the National Museum of China and signing a strategic cooperation agreement with the China Academy of Art, Brass Master won one of Marvel’s most coveted IP “Avengers”, the IP of Cixin LIU’s work “The Three-Body Problem” and Jing WU’s sci-fi “The Wondering Earth”. Guang YU believes collaborating with such popular IPs will help Brass Master achieve further developments.
Guang YU added: “Cathay Capital and GX Capital are very supportive, the whole financing process has been very smooth and our first investors – Shunwei Capital, Xiaomi Investment and Haiquan Fund – agreed to continue investing in our company without hesitation. In such a difficult environment where investments are decelerating, we’re proud to see investors firmly endorse a small business like ours. This gives us a lot of confidence and proves that our business philosophy is relevant. As consumption is upgrading, home accessories, customized gifts and furniture have great potential and as long as we work hard, we will be able to make new breakthroughs.”
(President, founder and CEO of Brass Master)