Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. made a strategic investment in Chinese online parenting services platform Babytree that takes its valuation to $2.19 billion.
The amount of the investment was not disclosed. However, Babytree said in a June 4 statement that the companies would collaborate in e-commerce, customer-to-maker services, advertising sales, paid expert knowledge, new online and offline retail operations, and other related maternal and child businesses.
Babytree said it aims to become China's "most significant social marketing platform targeting young families" by leveraging Alibaba's ecosystem resources and big data analytical capabilities.
Founded in 2007, Babytree started out as an online parenting community and evolved into a full-service platform that offers maternal and child-rearing tools, e-commerce and C2M services. The company said its platform has the largest user penetration share in what it called the "trillion-dollar" family market in China.
Babytree also counts investment firm Fosun International Ltd. and China-based tutorial service provider TAL Education Group among its previous strategic investors.
