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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)
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