AI-driven on-demand fast fashion marketplace
HQ: Singapore | Founded: 2008 | Employees: 15,000+ | Stage: Late Stage / Pre-IPO | Website: https://www.shein.com
Shein was founded in 2008 by Chris Xu (Xu Yangtian) in Guangzhou/Nanjing as ZZKKO, initially selling wedding dresses cross-border, before pivoting to fast fashion e-commerce and moving its headquarters to Singapore. The company built an on-demand model that tests 6,000-10,000 new SKUs daily in 100-unit batches, uses real-time search and social data to predict demand, and reorders winners within days via a network of 6,000+ contracted manufacturers in Guangzhou, supported by AI demand forecasting, automated warehousing and a global logistics footprint.
From a $5M Series A in 2013 to a $100B valuation in 2022, Shein scaled to become the most downloaded shopping app globally, surpassing $23B revenue in 2022 and $32.5B in 2023 according to FT/TWSJ reporting. Backed by Sequoia China (HongShan), Tiger Global, General Atlantic, IDG Capital, JAFCO Asia, Peninsula Capital, DST Global, Coatue, EQT Growth and Mubadala, it now operates the core Shein app, SHEIN X designer incubator, and category extensions including SHEIN Home, Kids and Beauty, while pursuing a London IPO after confidential US and UK filings in 2023-2024.
Shein is the world's largest fast-fashion pure-play, leveraging a proprietary on-demand supply-chain OS and AI trend engine to turn designs into products in 5-7 days across 6,000+ factories. After peaking at a $100B valuation in April 2022, it repriced to $66B in its $2B 2023 round and ~$54B in private 2024 trades amid growth deceleration, de minimis risk and London IPO scrutiny, yet still generated $32.5B revenue in 2023 with reported profitability.
Browse: Home | Blog | About | All Startups A-Z | View full profile on StartupWiki