BorderX Lab, a cross-border e-commerce startup founded by three former Google engineers, raises $20 million in Series B funding

BorderX Lab, a cross-border e-commerce startup founded by three former Google engineers, raises $20 million in Series B funding. The financing is led by Kleiner Perkins with participation from Hillhouse Capital Group, CBC (China Broadband Capital), Welight Capital and iFly Venture Capital. BorderX Lab plans to use to further drive international expansion, create new platform features to improve the customer experience and continue the hiring of world class team members in Sunnyvale and Shanghai.

Founded in 2014, the Sunnyvale, California-based BorderX Lab makes it easy for global middle class consumers to discover and purchase the world’s best products and services. BorderX Lab’s first product, The Beyond App, is a mobile marketplace that uses content to connect affluent Chinese shoppers with quality retailers and brands from both the US and Europe. By utilizing big data and artificial intelligence the Beyond App is able to provide Chinese consumers the same dot com shopping experience enjoyed by US or European consumers. The company’s mobile app and platform connects American and European brands – in fashion, beauty, healthcare and lifestyle product categories – with the rapidly emerging middle class in China (and soon in other regions of the world).

BorderX Lab partners with more than 50 merchants, including Saks, Peter Thomas Roth, Finish Line, Forzieri and Everlane to bring a catalog of more than five million products to Chinese consumers, who have downloaded the company’s iOS and Android apps more than three million times. The company has generated tens of million in new sales for its top merchant partners in 2017 and has been profitable since Q3 2017.

Based on a technology infrastructure that combines big data with artificial intelligence, BorderX Lab provides Chinese consumers with the same online shopping experience enjoyed by consumers in the U.S. and Europe. Its advanced platform includes intelligent bots that help automate the complex end-to-end shopping experience from integrating merchant product catalogues, to processing consumer orders, to shipping route optimization, to customs and tax processing, and more.

BorderX Lab manages all customer acquisition, authentication and purchase of goods, translation and localization of product information, and local customer support for its merchant partners to make it easy and risk-free for brands to enter the Chinese market.

“Our team has delivered on our vision of bringing the American and European lifestyle to the worldwide middle class,” said Dr. Albert Shen, CEO and co-founder, BorderX Lab. “We’ve removed the hassle of trying to buy authentic goods directly for millions of consumers and of having to deal with currency, language and cultural issues. Now, with the support of KPCB and our other major investment partners, we’ll be able to grow our team and business and provide even better service for our merchants and users.”

“Kleiner Perkin’s mission is to back the world’s best entrepreneurs on their journey to help them achieve their ambitious goals. We are thrilled to support BorderX’s bold vision of connecting the best brands with eager consumers around the world, and transform a $100 billion market,” said Eric Feng, general partner at Kleiner Perkins.

iFly Venture Capital led the Series A round and continued to invest and support BorderX Lab in the Series B. “As a young VC fund, iFly stays away from buzzword-centric investments and focuses on backing visionary entrepreneurs who seek to fundamentally transform industries through innovative approaches. The BorderX Lab team is highly creative and has built a great international team from the United States and China,” said Han Shen, founding partner, iFly Venture Capital. “The team’s technical background and commitment to excellence, coupled with a deep understanding of its initial markets, has allowed it to grow rapidly in a highly competitive market.”