MOTI A Round Raises US$50 Million, with SIG Participating

On September 18, Bluehole News exclusively learned from multiple sources that MOTI e-cigarettes recently officially completed a US$50 million Series A financing round. The latest investor to join is SIG Asia, a well-known international USD fund and an early investor in Jinri Toutiao.

Industry sources told Bluehole that MOTI’s Series A financing began closing in stages during the second quarter of this year and has now been officially completed, with a total amount of US$50 million.

This is also the largest financing amount reported for an e-cigarette brand this year. Previously, Snowplus announced a US$40 million financing round, but did not disclose the specific investors.

Bluehole had previously reported that RELX received two rounds of financing from Source Code Capital and an investment company under DST, but detailed figures were not disclosed and there was no official confirmation.

As for MOTI’s investor in this round, SIG Asia is a very well-known international USD fund. Generally speaking, investment from a USD fund provides strong endorsement for a brand, and the market-based valuation is usually seen as more reasonable. USD funds also typically look for high-growth opportunities and do not invest lightly.

SIG Asia is a wholly owned subsidiary of Susquehanna International Group (SIG), headquartered in the United States. It entered China in 2005 and has an independent venture capital team in China, investing its own capital in Chinese startups.

SIG’s most notable investment case is Jinri Toutiao. It invested US$3 million in 2012, and the company is now valued at US$75 billion.

As we all know, ByteDance, the parent company of Jinri Toutiao, has now become one of the key forces in China’s internet sector, leading the "TMD" trio that followed the BAT era.

While reviewing SIG Asia’s investment portfolio, Bluehole found that the firm has a particular preference for investing in technology- and product-driven projects. Whether it is Jinri Toutiao, Ximalaya, or now MOTI, all are projects driven by technology or product strength.

SIG’s sudden move into the e-cigarette sector is therefore consistent with its investment style. The outside world knows very little about MOTI’s founding team. Apart from the CMO, the CEO and other senior executives have largely stayed behind the scenes, focusing on product R&D.

A top-tier USD fund increasing its investment in MOTI is enough to show SIG’s confidence in China’s e-cigarette industry and in the MOTI project itself.