On December 18, Chengdu Ashang Information Technology Co., Ltd., the operator of Dinghuobao, China's first SaaS-based internet channel distribution management platform, held a funding press conference in Beijing and announced: Dinghuobao has completed its Series B funding round, raising 150 million RMB, with this round invested by China Digital Information Co., Ltd. Dinghuobao Series B Funding Unveiling Ceremony In August 2005, Chengdu Ashang Information Technology Co., Ltd. was officially established, and in 2010, the team officially launched the Dinghuobao product. As China's first SaaS-based internet channel marketing ordering platform, Dinghuobao uses enterprise trade circulation management as a breakthrough to enter the enterprise SaaS service market. Through the internet + channel distribution model, it builds exclusive B2B marketing platforms for enterprises, driving transformation in traditional industry channel models. Today, Dinghuobao has spawned products such as supply chain finance, regional ordering platforms, and hardware devices, providing professional services to industries including FMCG, digital home appliances, apparel and footwear, and hardware and electrical equipment. At the press conference, Jiang Tao, founder of Dinghuobao, shared the founding team's journey and entrepreneurial spirit, saying: "Today, we received strategic investment from China Digital in our Series B round, which shows that both the market and capital fully recognize Dinghuobao. Over the years, we have completed three major version iterations. From the pure WEB-based 1.0 era, to the mobile-enabled 2.0 era, and now to the new PaaS-based 3.0 era, we have undergone 5,000 functional upgrades and accumulated over 30,000 requirement iterations, and this is just at the product level. Furthermore, we realized that if we only provide our customers with a tool, it is difficult for them to truly complete their internet transformation. We must deliver our customer success system and operational system to help our customers genuinely use the product to serve their business. This requires strategies, solutions, and even talent output, and we are continuously iterating and exploring these aspects." Speaking on how products and services adapt to new retail and new supply chain changes, Mr. Jiang said: "First, after this round of funding, we will increase product R&D efforts to achieve more refined operations, more precise data targeting, connect with changing channels, enable high-speed channel connectivity and rapid response, and provide data-driven BI feedback. Not only for trading companies but also for manufacturing enterprises, we aim to provide a big data-based platform that includes not only their own enterprise data but also industry data analysis." Looking to the future, after the funding, Dinghuobao will establish a comprehensive sales system nationwide. Dinghuobao will set up operation centers in major provinces across the country. In addition to sales functions, these centers will focus more on service and operational functions. In terms of supply chain finance, Dinghuobao will continue to work with financial enterprises under the Boen Group to explore big data applications and truly solve the problems of difficult and expensive financing for small and medium-sized enterprises. Jiang Tao, CEO of Chengdu Ashang Information Technology Co., Ltd. As the representative of the investor in this round, Liu Wenyong, Investment Director of China Digital Information Co., Ltd., shared China Digital's investment philosophy: "The Chinese government's policy-level initiatives, such as Internet+ and supply-side structural reform, are fundamentally aimed at combining traditional Chinese enterprises with advanced internet e-commerce to bring new development momentum to our national economy. This has led to the Internet+ transformation of traditional Chinese enterprises. Driven and stimulated by these policies, traditional enterprises are continuously experimenting with and exploring Internet+ applications, and deepening their understanding of the value of Internet+. Cloud services for digital intelligent business operations are now clearly showing an accelerating growth trend. The core of Dinghuobao is to provide data-driven services for the transaction link during the Internet+ transformation of traditional enterprises, thereby deriving other products and services. The transaction link is crucial for all Chinese enterprises, and the current demand for internet-based and digital transformation of the transaction link is enormous. This is also an important foundation for Dinghuobao becoming our partner. Furthermore, in the enterprise service sector, especially during this period of transformation, there is a particular need for focus and patience. Only by persistently researching industry and enterprise customer needs can we create a good product and become a valuable company. We believe Dinghuobao is such a company; they are very focused, patient, and not impetuous. However, these factors only indicate that Dinghuobao is currently in a favorable position and on the right development path. But to face the future, with the surging wave of Internet+ enterprises in China, we still need to make tremendous efforts and undergo strategic upgrades to perfectly meet their needs. With this investment in Dinghuobao, we have signed a long-term comprehensive agreement, firmly demonstrating our trust in Dinghuobao. We are willing to fully support Dinghuobao in achieving strategic upgrades and be their strong backing." Liu Wenyong, Investment Director, China Digital Information Co., Ltd. As a veteran employee of Dinghuobao, Zhou Jun, Channel Director of Dinghuobao, also shared Dinghuobao's operational philosophy and craftsmanship at the press conference. Mr. Zhou introduced a new concept—"Integration of Manufacturers and Distributors, Creating a New World Together"—and stated: "In terms of channel planning, we will generally complete the core channel layout of Dinghuobao from the following aspects: channel architecture, channel recruitment, channel promotion, channel organization building, and channel core assessment, to complete our core system development. In the future, we will complete the nationwide channel layout in three tiers. First, we will cover key core provinces with operation centers. Second, we will use our market promotion and brand strength to attract more customer resources and help enterprises develop. Third, Dinghuobao will provide dedicated sales managers to help enterprises build their entire sales teams, supporting them until they are on their feet and then going further. Around the operation centers, we will develop diamond partners nationwide to pave the way for the secondary market, and through open entry-level cooperation, open the window for gold partner cooperation." Zhou Jun, Channel Director of Dinghuobao As the investor in Dinghuobao's Series A round, Cao Rihui, founding partner of the renowned angel investment institution Yiyi Tian Shi, also attended the press conference and shared Yiyi's "Six Knives" theory for the enterprise SaaS service market. Mr. Cao said: "Regarding Dinghuobao's product, the first knife is the huge market size. The SME market is enormous. It's hard to imagine that in the future, SMEs will continue to use non-digitalized fax and phone systems to manage their ordering. This will inevitably be replaced by SaaS, and the market size is huge. The second knife is deep user value, reflected in user conversion rates, usage rates, and repurchase rates, which all indicate users' affection for the product. The third knife, we call relative competition. As the pioneer in this industry, we rank first in many data points. We have an advantage in relative competition. The fourth knife is the competitive barrier. I believe that if we deeply understand the industry and even form a platform effect, there will be a platform barrier. So I don't think a new entrant without industry knowledge, industry accumulation, or platform formation can easily take users away from Dinghuobao. This is the competitive barrier, the so-called moat. Fifth, the business model—this is about how to acquire users. This has impressed me deeply. Everyone sees that Mr. Jiang is not particularly eloquent or passionate, but the speed and quality of his user acquisition have surprised us. So the speed and quality of user acquisition have been proven. Finally, we emphasize the profit model, which is the sixth knife. We can view SaaS as profitable in itself, but also as a means to monetize data after digitalization. For example, Mr. Jiang mentioned that our Boen Group has micro-loan products, through which we can provide loan services to enterprises—this is a way of data monetization. There are many such monetization channels, so the profit model is SaaS-centric: use SaaS to acquire and occupy users, and use various data monetization methods to gain a larger position. So from the perspective of the Six Knives, Dinghuobao's evaluation fully passes. As Mr. Jiang said earlier, when he first approached us, he had already used the Six Knives to analyze his own business. Through our Six Knives strategic review, we helped clarify the model, and the path has become clearer and broader." From left: Liu Wenyong, Jiang Tao, Cao Rihui, Zhang Weiling In the future, Dinghuobao will establish a big data-driven digital supply chain system, empower traditional trade circulation enterprises with internet tools, and reshape the internet distribution chain model. Let us look forward to Dinghuobao's new journey! -END-