Con Cung received Quadria Capital led $90 M investment to develop a super app for Vietnamese mothers

Quadria Capital, a healthcare-focused private equity fund, has invested US $90 million in Con Cung, a Vietnamese retail network for mom and baby items.

Con Cung plans to use the funding to create 2,000 local stores and extend its product portfolio by 2025. It will also create a “all-in-one super app” to serve over five million mothers with personalised products and services.

Quadria’s network of portfolio firms, such as FV Healthcare, a hospital platform in Vietnam, would be used by the retailer.

Robert Willett, a worldwide retail specialist, will join Con Cung’s Board of Directors as part of the agreement.

Con Cung, founded in 2011 by chairman Minh Nguyen and CEO Tien Luu, aspires to be a one-stop-shop for moms’ pregnancy and baby-care requirements. Over 2,000 stock keeping units (SKUs) of items like milk powder, diapers, bottled nutrition and vitamins, equipment, and baby fashion are among the company’s offers.

Over the previous four years, the firm claims to have grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70%. Con Cung now has 600 outlets in 45 provinces and municipalities, with intentions to increase to 1,000 by the end of 2022.

Con Cung has a mobile app in addition to a network of physical stores to support the growing number of mobile-based purchases.

“We recognise the need to expand our retail channels, both online and offline, and create a holistic ecosystem to support mothers and families,” said Nguyen.

Con Cung will establish its first 2,000-square-meter Super Center in Ho Chi Minh City in January. All Con Cung products and services will be available here, as well as a coffee shop, an integrated playground, and a separate floor for child care, nutrition, and OBGYN counselling services supplied by doctors and healthcare experts.

Con Cung intends to open one supercentre every month, bringing the total number of such outlets in Vietnam to 200-300.

The new funding comes 18 months after Quadria’s oversubscribed US $595 million Fund II, which focuses on healthcare and consumer health firms in the Asia Pacific, closed. Following the quick deployment of Fund II, the business is trying to raise Fund III.