5. Kuai

Founders: Jonny Plein, Adam Knight and James Campbell

Website: https://www.kuaicommerce.com/

Business: Helping international brands sell products in China via social commerce.

Kuai are building scalable and affordable solutions for the most ambitious brands to sell their products D2C to Chinese Gen-Z consumers using the power of social commerce (the term used when making ecommerce sales directly via social media platforms), unlocking the $1.7tn Chinese ecommerce market for brands that otherwise couldn’t access it.

Social Commerce is huge within China’s unique digital ecosystem, with a $449bn GMV in 2021. Kuai partner with brands whose products suit the current trends and demands of Chinese Gen-Z consumers. The startup co-invest with their partner brands for long term success by providing them with extra marketing budget to launch their products successfully into China, as well as handling all logistics, back-office, payments and customer support. Helping them grow in the world’s largest ecommerce market.

The idea for Kuai commerce came about from a tech product James and Adam built in their agency Tong.Global called “WeCommerce” – allowing brands to set up stores on WeChat – but the product had some issues that were not solvable in its current iteration, and there was still a huge demand from clients for a solution to sell in China. Kuai Commerce is that solution.

The Kuai founders set clear values from Day 1., wanting to build a world-class company for both people and partners, to always be selling, to hire for the right skills and combine a social consciousness with their success – carbon offsetting, planting trees and giving back where they can.

Kuai has a 4 phase business plan for the future…

Phase One: Launch 2-4 partner brands into China using social commerce as the key driver.

Phase Two: Launch their own social commerce store, establishing their own channel to reach Gen-Z consumers, hosting cult labels new to the market.

Phase Three: Develop new products and brands based on insights gathered through ecommerce data, incubating these through existing stores. Start building out SaaS technology and test with trusted brands.

Phase Four: Allow other brands to use their technology to launch their own stores on a SaaS basis.

Kuai state their mission is “To launch and scale the next generation of D2C category leaders in China.” The startup are currently raising their £2m seed round to launch Kuai’s first brand partners into China.

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