British Startup YASO Raises €9.4 Million In Series A Round

The funding will be used to scale sales and marketing, accelerate client onboarding, enhance platform capabilities, and boost operational capacity.

The round was led by Puma Growth Partners and included participation from new and existing investors such as Guinness Ventures, Playfair Capital, Koro Capital, Haatch Ventures, Sequel, Portfolio Ventures, Nodes, and Founders Capital.

Jonny Plein, Co-Founder of YASO, commented: “We couldn’t be happier to be partnering with Puma on this opportunity. We have the team, the tech, the market size and therefore the opportunity to build a billion dollar business helping brands launch and scale in the world’s largest e-commerce market. We needed an investor who matched YASO’s ambitions, and we have found that in Puma. We are also delighted with the other co-investors, including the Seed investors, both VCs and Angels, who have been there since day 1, who backed us again in this round. We can’t wait to take YASO to the next level!”

Founded in 2022 by Jonny Plein, James Campbell, and Adam Knight, YASO’s founders bring experience in entrepreneurship and deep knowledge of the Chinese market, including fluency in Mandarin.

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Today, YASO’s team of 20 combines China market experts, technologists, and startup founders to drive growth and innovation.

Ben Leslie, Investment Director at Puma Growth Partners, added: “We are delighted to be backing the YASO team who are truly redefining how international brands navigate China’s complex e-commerce and social commerce landscape. The founding team’s deep expertise in Chinese commerce, combined with a mature product ready to scale, makes this a compelling opportunity for us. We’re excited to lead this round alongside fantastic co-investors and we look forward to helping accelerate YASO’s growth.”

Entering the Chinese market poses challenges for global consumer brands. Rapid growth in social commerce and e-commerce has created multiple platforms, each with unique technical requirements. Brands often face high entry costs, complex cross-platform selling, limited data visibility, and reduced control when relying on local distributors.

YASO helps brands scale quickly without local partners or building their own infrastructure. Its end-to-end platform handles payments, logistics, compliance, tax, analytics, and storefront integrations.

This enables seamless integration with major Chinese platforms like Douyin (TikTok China), Tmall (Amazon China), and RedNote (Instagram China), allowing brands to sell efficiently while maintaining control over their positioning.

About YASO

YASO simplifies Chinese social commerce for ambitious brands, enabling direct sales to Gen Z consumers. Its tech-driven platform provides market entry and growth solutions, helping emerging category leaders navigate China’s complex social commerce landscape efficiently and accelerate brand presence.