Tongcheng Life

Social commerceChina

New to Unitard

💀 Dead / Bankrupt

Peak $1 BillionToday

~-100%

from peak

🦄
Became a unicorn
2020
📈
Peak valuation
$1 Billion ’21
💔
Became a Unitard
2021
💸
Last valuation
Wiped out

Capital raised

$300M

Total raised

$270K/day

Raised per day

Total raised averaged per day over approximately 3.0 years from founding to bankruptcy or shutdown. This is not measured cash burn. Methodology

Funding: SCMP/AVCJ

Current status

Filed for bankruptcy (July 2021); China's first community group-buying unicorn to collapse

The rise & fall

5 moments · 2018–2021

The key moments.

2018

Founded in Suzhou

Suzhou Fresh Orange Technology's group-buying platform grows into one of China's 'big three' alongside Xingsheng Youxuan and Nice Tuan.

TechNode

2020

Joins the unicorn club

More than $300M in venture funding carries the community group-buying leader across the $1B line.

SCMP

2021

The peak: ~$1B at the height of the subsidy wars$1B

Community group-buying is China's hottest sector — and its most brutal.

SCMP

2021

The price war drains the tank

Subsidy battles against deep-pocketed rivals burn through the cash faster than the groceries move.

TechNode

Jul 2021

Bankruptcy — joins the Unitard Club 💔

Parent Suzhou Fresh Orange files owing ~RMB 200M to more than 1,000 suppliers — the first Chinese community group-buying unicorn to fall.

SCMP

$1Bof peak value erased · 3 years

How it happened

Tongcheng Life (同程生活), run by Suzhou Fresh Orange Technology, was one of China's 'big three' community group-buying platforms alongside Xingsheng Youxuan and Nice Tuan. Founded in 2018 and backed by more than $300M in venture funding, it reached a valuation of roughly $1B before a brutal price war and heavy subsidies drained its cash.

In July 2021 it filed for bankruptcy owing about 200 million yuan to more than 1,000 suppliers — becoming the first community group-buying unicorn in China to collapse.

Source: TechNode / DealStreetAsia / SCMP (founded 2018, raised >$300M VC, valued ~$1B; parent Suzhou Fresh Orange filed bankruptcy Jul 2021 owing ~RMB 200M to 1,000+ suppliers; first Chinese community group-buying unicorn to fall)