Can Xu Xin and Sequoia hold up Ubras

Economic Observer reporter Zheng Weixin Ubras is applying for a high-slit pants trademark, another business scope of almost all-encompassing brand hidden force field is also in the application, hidden field business scope includes catering and accommodation, fuel grease and even arms, fireworks, etc., and in Hangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai are recruiting underwear shopping guides and e-commerce anchors.

All this shows that as a company that has created a size-free underwear explosion, Ubras is accelerating its quest for breakthroughs beyond underwear. Year after quarter after last funding, Ubras seems to be trying to build a new growth story. In February 2021, Ubras entered the runway of men's underwear by investing in Beijing Pulu Clothing Co., Ltd., but the brand did not get as much attention, with their official Weibo having less than five thousand followers, and their Tmall flagship store also having less than five thousand followers.

Ubras is a brand operated by Biyue (Beijing) Technology Co., Ltd., and Xu Xin, a well-known investor and founder of Today Capital, set his sights on this company in 2018, and subsequently, the company also attracted well-known capital including Sequoia.

These are the top domestic investment institutions, they worked together to build this brand, although there has been a good record of growth in the past, but their pursuit of growth outside of underwear shows that the original runway seems to have encountered a ceiling.

Who is Ubras

With a size-less underwear, Ubras gets out of the loop quickly. According to the official website of Ubras, the sales volume of Tmall 618Ubras in 2020 exceeded 100 million yuan, and the sales of Ubras exceeded 300 million yuan during the double 11 period in 2020.

When it was first founded in 2018, few consumers knew the name Ubras, what made Ubras turn from obscurity to explosive? Judging from the development history of Ubras, it has won in three aspects: product positioning that caters to demand, the marketing dividend of the rise of live broadcasting, and the streamlined supply chain.

In terms of product positioning, Ubras tried to shape the concept that the usual underwear is also wrapped 360 degrees like sports underwear, firmly supporting the chest. According to the statement of Ubras founder Yu Yaqian, modern young girls no longer want the traditional underwear that is sexy and gathered to support the career line, but should go to work, the sport is sports, and underwear is outside the body.

Although Ubras claims to have pioneered unsized bras, Aimer had already produced tank top bras a few years ago, but it was not successful at the time, and Ubras founder Yu Ya had previously worked for Aimer and served as marketing director.

Another reason for the outbreak of the underwear category is considered by the outside world to be the dividend from new channels.

The first investor to take a fancy to Ubras is Xu Xin, president of Today Capital, who joined the board of directors of Ubras in April 2018. Xu Xin is one of the best venture capitalists in China, Xu Xin has invested in many well-known companies such as NetEase, Yonghui Supermarket, JD.com, Dingdong Grocery Shopping, Daily Excellent Fresh and Meituan, and JD.com is one of Xu Xin's most famous investment cases.

It was also the company's earliest financing. According to Ubras's official website, in August 2018, Today Capital invested an amount of 50 million yuan, which was used for product research and development and offline store opening.

In December 2019, Xu Xin withdrew from the board of directors, and Yang Rongfeng, post-investment management director and partner of Capital Today, entered to succeed Xu Xin as the board of directors.

In 2018, when Xu Xin chose to invest in the company, Ubras did not enter the eyes of consumers. Its rapid rise is in 2020, which is regarded by many industry insiders as the first year of live broadcasting.

During the year, Ubras frequently appeared in the live broadcast room of the big V, and with the help of live Ubras, more and more consumers were informed. In addition, in the epidemic, consumers are inconvenient to go to offline stores to try on traditional sized underwear, Ubras has solved this pain point, no need to try on, very suitable.

In terms of supply chain, the singleness of product lines through sizelessness and standardization has given Ubras the opportunity to streamline the supply chain on a large scale. The reporter saw the highest-selling product in the Ubras Tmall underwear flagship store is a cloud-size-free vest-style bra, this bra has eight colors, but only one size, customer service said A cup to C cup, 90 pounds to 130 pounds of girls can wear.

On the evening of May 21, 2020, Via did the 521 Via Thanksgiving Event in the live broadcast room, and selected several products to sell for 5.21 yuan, including Ubras's size-free underwear. Not only that, in 2020, Ubras products appeared many times in the Via live broadcast room, and the Via live broadcast room created an 8-second rush to empty the inventory.

This is when the live dividend bursts. In the stage of rapid sales growth, in September 2020, Ubras completed a new round of financing, led by Sequoia Capital, and followed by the old shareholders today. In January 2021, Ubras received an IDG background capital investment.

On August 28, 2020, Sequoia Jinglan (Xiamen) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) invested in Ubras, and Zou Jiajia entered the board of directors. Zou Jiajia has worked in Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and JPMorgan Chase (Asia) Consulting Co., Ltd. and is currently a partner of Sequoia China.

However, in January 2021, the Redshirt portfolio adjusted. Sequoia Jinglan (Xiamen) withdrew, and Sequoia Jinghong (Xiamen) Equity Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership) entered. However, in response to the change of the combination, as of press time, Sequoia has not responded. In January 2021, Tibet Yuchi Venture Capital Management Co., Ltd., whose main founder is IDG, invested in Ubras.

Win and lose

A person in the underwear industry said that the materials and technologies used by Ubras are not unique, and the related processes have been applied in large areas of foundries. The simplified supply chain allows Ubras to quickly iterate on the color and design of products based on market reactions, reducing clearance pressure.

However, the problem of Ubras' products themselves has formed a hidden danger for the subsequent development of enterprises.

The reporter and several senior consumers conducted in-depth interviews and found that the product labels that Ubras wanted to create were not the same as the consumer impressions: the keywords that Ubras wanted to give consumers to experience were comfortable, simple and easy to wear, and it claimed to provide high-quality fabrics and innovative technology in an affordable way, but the keywords that consumers gave to Ubras were shapeless, fragile, and flat. A consumer who has purchased more than a dozen Ubras underwear said that Ubras underwear is extremely easy to deform, basically worn for two months to deform the deformation can not be worn, but she covets the comfort of Ubras and has been repeatedly buying back. Many consumers have found this problem, under the product evaluation of tmall flagship store, it is not uncommon to wash it several times and deform it easily.

A practitioner in the underwear industry said that Ubras is a vest to be precise, and the basic process is not much different from the garment, so the preparation of materials is simple. But the problem with such underwear is that it is only suitable for women with good breasts and small cups. Because it will be deformed after wearing it for a long time, it basically does not give support and physical beauty. The complexity of the underwear process is to have a reasonable and healthy supporting mechanical structure, which is the threshold of the underwear itself.

Not only is it a matter of consumer feedback, but the channels on which Ubras has grown have also undergone significant changes, one of which is the disappearance of traffic dividends.

The reporter's investigation found that in 2019, the live broadcast channel can be exchanged for a view as long as it spends 2 cents, but it has now become a few dollars, and a Founder of the tmall list head brand said that the previous ROI could even reach 1:10, and now it can have 1:1.5 is already very good.

In addition, Wei Ya, the famous anchor who promoted Ubras at that time, was broadcast because of tax issues, which also indicated that the live broadcast industry has entered a new stage.

After Ubras became popular, it was imitated by many Taobao stores, similar product positioning also had many new brands added, consumers can buy the same model at less than half the price, and competition has begun to become fierce.

The "Li Birthday Advertising Gate" incident encountered by Ubras is a reflection of the fierce competition on this runway. On February 24, 2021, Li Tian posted an advertisement for the underwear brand Ubras on his Weibo: "My workplace life jacket, a device that allows women to easily lie down and win the workplace@Ubras brand official, I said there is no goods I can't bring, you say believe it or not." As soon as Weibo was issued, many people thought that the slogan "Lying wins the workplace" was offensive to women. On the same day, Ubras urgently removed the promotional content and issued an apology statement.

After the online dividend disappeared, Ubras also began to move offline. The reporter inquired on the official website of Ubras that 24 stores have been opened in first-tier cities such as Beijing, Chongqing and Shanghai. The reporter saw in Beijing Hopson Hui that Ubras' store is located on the B2 floor of Hopson Hui, and the big-name underwear is not on the same floor. Traditionally, shopping malls will lease the B2 floor to some brands with weak brand power and cannot drain the flow.

Now and in the future

Ubras has completed the jump from 0 to 1, and Ubras' strategy is clearly very successful in the embryonic and growth phases of the product, and even in the growth period, the slope of the Ubras curve is very large.

Explosive products represent high sales, but with the use of consumers, the impression of Ubras products has formed a brand impression, and from the reporter's research results, some users who have repurchased many times have a worse reputation for the Ubras brand.

However, Ubras does not want to be shackled in one category.

In order to continue to develop, Ubras is looking for a second curve, in addition to underwear, it is promoting products such as autumn clothes and autumn pants. In an interview with the media, He said that Yu Yaqian found through Tmall's "business counselor" that people's demand for home clothes has increased significantly recently. As a result, Ubras launched a related marketing campaign.

In September 2021, Ubras announced that Liu Wen has become the spokesperson for its new category of skin underwear. Yu Yaqian believes that the right direction should be how to meet women's internal needs, rather than paying too much attention to what kind of products should be sold.

However, the reporter saw that Liu Wen's same Ubras non-size half-necked bottom jacket in the mouth of consumers is not high evaluation, in the Tmall flagship store this primer has 386 consumer reviews, showing that the top of the evaluation is mostly not high, typical such as, "wear twice on the ball, not warm", "the neckline is all sent a little type of no" "the neckline double-layer open line has become a layer".

This may explain the layout of Ubras in the supply chain. In July 2021, Ubras established a dedicated supply chain company.

It is worth noting that on February 17, 2022, Ubras established Hidden Field (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., which is a brand of Ubras, which is applying for a registered trademark. According to the trademark information provided by Tianyancha, the hidden force field covers a range from convenience food, catering and accommodation, fuel oil, financial property management to medical equipment and so on.