「e公司观察」从一亩田IPO大跌看农业B2B之难

Core Viewpoint - The company "Yimuyuan" experienced a significant drop of 31.7% on its first day of trading on NASDAQ, resulting in a market capitalization of $320 million, despite being a well-known player in the agricultural B2B sector with substantial backing from prominent investment institutions. However, its annual revenue remains low at only 161 million yuan, leading to investor dissatisfaction with returns [1]. Group 1: Company Performance - Yimuyuan has impressive metrics, with projections indicating that by the end of 2024, the platform will have over 38 million merchants and 21 million SKUs, facilitating 147 million searches, 583 million communications, and 187 million potential transactions annually. The service network covers over 340 cities and 2,800 counties, penetrating more than 65% of primary and secondary agricultural wholesale markets [1]. - Despite the strong user engagement and market penetration, Yimuyuan's revenue figures for 2022 to 2024 are disappointing, with revenues of 156 million yuan, 188 million yuan, and 161 million yuan, respectively, and corresponding net losses of approximately 116 million yuan, 106 million yuan, and 34.94 million yuan [1]. - The company has faced challenges in achieving profitability, with a small revenue scale and significant losses, indicating a difficult operational environment. Without ongoing financing, sustaining operations may be challenging [2]. Group 2: Funding and Growth - Since its inception, Yimuyuan has engaged in continuous fundraising, attracting notable investors. In December 2013, it secured $15 million in Series A funding led by Sequoia Capital China, followed by $20 million in Series B funding in July 2014, and several rounds of financing totaling hundreds of millions of dollars from various investors between 2016 and 2019 [4]. - At one point, Yimuyuan was compared to successful companies like Didi and Meituan, with its valuation reaching $1 billion after rapid expansion from 250 employees to nearly 3,000 in a short period [4]. Group 3: Industry Challenges - Yimuyuan operates as an information intermediary in the agricultural sector, facilitating transactions across the entire supply chain. However, the fragmented nature of agriculture in China, dominated by smallholder farmers, complicates standardization and profitability [5]. - The difficulty in successfully facilitating transactions and the high cost of verifying information hinder the platform's ability to generate revenue. Many users are small merchants who struggle to benefit from the platform, leading to a reluctance to pay for services [5].