36氪 was informed that the water appliance brand “Jiaquan” (formerly “Xiong Xiaoxi”) has completed the B round of financing of nearly 100 million yuan. This round of financing was led by Fengtu Capital, and the old shareholders GGV Jiyuan Capital and Tiantu Capital followed. Investment, Mumian Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor. This is the fourth round of financing completed by Jiaquan within two years of its establishment. Li Wenjun, founder and CEO of Jiaquan, told 36Kr that this round of financing will be mainly used for Jiaquan brand building and investment in research and development of new types of mineral springs.
From fresh drinking water to the home appliance market, since its establishment in July 2020, Jiaquan has successively launched a series of products such as drinking purifiers, quick-heating water dispensers, and milk tea machines under the brand “Xiong Xiaoxi”. Among them, the brand’s first “desktop drinking machine”, which was launched in April last year, accurately grasped the pain points of water purification demand mainly by young mothers and white-collar workers aged 25-35 due to its features of no installation, purification and heating. Angel, AO Smith and other under-the-kitchen water purifiers dominate the market.
Product map of Jiaquan, provided by respondents
On this basis, Jiaquan upgraded the brand and products of “Xiong Xiaoxi” in July this year, announcing that it will focus on the brand’s first long-acting “mineral spring machine” product direction, and simultaneously release the brand “long-acting 4.0 mineral spring machine” Concept model.
Talking about the reason for this brand upgrade, Li Wenjun told 36氪 that the reason is that the team gradually discovered in the process of purifying water that the addition of trace elements makes mineral water more pronounced than pure water, which is more beneficial to human health, and consumers are more interested in mineral water. Water needs and perceptions are also stronger. In addition, after the epidemic, people’s pursuit of improving the quality of life has surged, which has promoted the upgrade of the healthy direction of the water-drinking lifestyle.
Jiaquan has been planning to open up the category of mineral water machines for a long time. According to Li Wenjun, the internal operation of the brand upgrade has been in operation for nine months. Before that, the team has been accumulating technologies related to mineral water machines. It is reported that the product upgrade of Jiaquan from water purifiers to mineral springs can not only realize “one-click mineral water production” at home, but also integrate various water drinking functions such as various flavors, quick heating, and cooling.
The traditional natural mineral water market is mainly based on packaged water products represented by Nongfu Spring and Baisui Mountain. The production process is mainly to “carry” natural mineral water and conduct secondary purification treatment. The mineral spring machine of Jiaquan has opened up the entire chain of generation and purification of this natural mineral water.
Li Wenjun told 36氪 that Jiaquan and China University of Geosciences (Beijing) conducted systematic research on more than 3,500 high-quality mineral resources across the country, accumulated mineral selection and identification technology , and developed natural mineral spring reduction technology , which physically simulates the high temperature and high pressure environment to activate trace amounts Elements, together with the previously accumulated water purification and pH adjustment technologies , carry out corresponding secondary purification treatment at the same time as restoring the production process of natural mineral water. In addition, Jiaquan has also applied the self-developed 4D sterilization technology at the water outlet, and has functions such as intelligent cleaning and intelligent troubleshooting .
Online channels have been the main driver of the growth of the home appliance market in the past two years. According to the China Electronics and Information Industry Development Research Institute, the retail sales of the online home appliance market surpassed offline channels for the first time in 2020, and will continue to grow in 2021. The online home appliance market will reach 466.3 billion yuan, an increase of 11.1%, accounting for the overall The retail sales of home appliances was 52.9%, and the demand for mid-to-high-end and young people grew strongly.
With the rise of online growth, Jiaquan has landed on Tmall, JD.com, Douyin and other channels. Among them, the Douyin channel has the most impressive growth rate. According to Li Wenjun, the current market share of Jiaquan products in Douyin water purifiers reaches 70%. . One of the important reasons is that compared with the past graphic display, the live broadcast scene is more suitable for the demonstration of the use of water purifier products. It is reported that Jiaquan currently operates 7 live broadcast rooms independently.
At present, Jiaquan is still in the parallel stage with Xiong Xiaoxi brand, and the brand switch is expected to be completed around the end of this year . Li Wenjun told 36氪 that it is believed that the launch of the Jiaquan mineral spring machine will become a cross-generational product iteration in the water purifier market, but at the same time, Jiaquan will continue to provide old users with services such as product after-sales service, filter replacement, and trade-in services.
From the kitchen water purifier to the desktop miniaturization upgrade, there is a lot of test for production design and supply chain capabilities. Li Wenjun said that small household appliances have the characteristics of “the smaller the more difficult”, the reason is that the smaller the product, the higher the functional requirements for each module, the compatibility between the whole machine, electric control, waterway, heating lamp and other systems It is also more complicated, and compared with the kitchen, the desktop water purification pays more attention to the precision of the mold and the sense of product design.
Thanks to the team’s 14 years of experience in water purification product research and development, Jiaquan has now achieved independent control over the entire production process from mold opening, product design and development, core components, process control, etc. , and the entire line of products is completed with the dedicated production line of the cooperative factory. .
Some product pictures of Jiaquan, provided by the respondents
In addition to domestic business, Jiaquan has also entered the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Middle East and other countries and regions. After the brand upgrade, overseas markets will still operate under the brand Aquibear. And next, Jiaquan’s first mineral water machine will also enter the overseas market simultaneously. At present, the product has obtained a full series of certifications in the United States and Japan, and it is expected to be launched simultaneously in China and Japan at the end of this month.
The reason why Japan was chosen as the first stop to go overseas, Li Wenjun told 36氪, there are many reasons. First, the demand for small home appliances in the United States is significantly different from that of Asian countries; in addition, Japanese family living habits are closer to China’s. , there are characteristics such as home cooking, miniaturization of home appliances, integration of functions, and small kitchen area. Desktop-grade water purification products are also more popular with local people; in addition, the design of small home appliances in China in the past is also more Japanese and Korean industrial design. Style and human experience elements.
It is reported that Jiaquan already has an office in Japan, and will launch the brand’s official website, offline experience store, and enter channels such as Rakuten, Yahoo and Amazon.
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