Hong Kong Luxury Watch Seller Raises $8 Million From Gobi Partners, Kuok Meng Xiong’s K3 Ventures
Wednesday, January 18, 2023
(Forbes by Catherine Wang) – Wristcheck, a Hong Kong-based luxury watch consignment retailer, raised $8 million in a seed funding round led by Gobi Partners GBA, which oversees Alibaba’s Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund – one of the city’s largest startup funds – and the AEF Greater Bay Area fund.
The funding round included participation from K3 Ventures, a venture capital firm founded by Kuok Meng Xiong, grandson of Malaysia’s richest person Robert Kuok.
“We're the first [resale], asset-light watch platform based out of Asia that is actually recognized globally,” says Austen Chu, 26, cofounder and CEO of Wristcheck. “And we’re the first ones to actually be completely transparent…buyers know what sellers net, and sellers know what buyers pay.”
Launched in 2020, Wristcheck claims the value of its consigned watches is $80 million, a total year-over-year growth of 75%. The startup offers fixed rates for their luxury watch resales, at 8% for sellers and 4% for buyers – as opposed to the steep margins imposed by auction houses or individual dealers, Chu says.
