On April 25th, Angeperle, a leading company in China’s pearl supply chain, in collaboration with the industry venture capital fund Cangyuan Capital and other institutions, launched the first domestic pearl brand accelerator program, named “Pearl Camp,” in Shanghai. This initiative aims to enhance the ecological system of the pearl industry and promote the branding and upgrading of China’s pearl industry.
Zhuji, the hometown of the legendary beauty Xi Shi in Zhejiang province, is a renowned distribution center for freshwater pearls, earning the title “Pearl Capital of China.” It accounts for 75% of the global freshwater pearl market, with annual pearl transactions amounting to over 40 billion yuan, distributed nationwide and globally.
Founded in 2003 in Zhuji, Angeperle (Zhejiang Angeperle Jewelry Co., Ltd.) is an all-category pearl supply company integrating design, processing, and sales. It is currently the largest supplier of its kind in China, collaborating with many international luxury brands and large domestic and Hong Kong-based jewelry brands.
Angeperle’s Partner Brands
Over the past few years, as pearl consumption has risen, companies like Angeperle have surged forward. Angeperle has accumulated years of industry knowledge, possesses a large-scale, professional pearl supply chain system, and has built significant traffic capacity through live-stream e-commerce — from 2020 to 2023, Angeperle’s e-commerce GMV doubled annually, accounting for about one-fifth of the platform’s pearl category sales.
Despite rapid growth in both ToB supply chain and live-stream e-commerce, Angeperle recognizes that the development bottleneck for the domestic pearl industry lies in branding. Primarily, the products sold in live-streaming and e-commerce are basic items like necklaces, pendants, and earrings, with little differentiation or distinction, lacking unique identification, aesthetic style, and values. Furthermore, while domestic major jewelry brands continue to focus on materials like gold and diamonds, and some have established pearl counters, brands primarily centered on pearls and commonly recognized by consumers remain exceedingly rare.
Qi Tiebiao, founder of Angeperle, stated: “As a leading supply chain enterprise, Angeperle has a responsibility to contribute to the branding upgrade of the pearl industry.” The specific approach involves leveraging Angeperle’s supply chain resources and live-stream traffic to empower the development of pearl brands. This includes introducing internationally renowned pearl or jewelry brands to develop the domestic market; collaborating with fashionable companies that own well-known brands to develop pearl brands; assisting top fashion MCNs and streamers in co-creating pearl brands or co-branded items; investing in pearl brand startups, or incubating outstanding pearl brand managers and designers to help them accelerate their growth.
Meanwhile, Qi Tiebiao also mentioned, “We are focusing solely on the upgrade of the pearl industry. Angeperle will continue to position itself as a supply chain brand rather than a ToC brand.”
Cangyuan Capital‘s first fund focuses on the apparel industry. Its founder, Huo Zhongyan, has invested in several consumer projects including Mei ONE, Yitiao, Bananain, Himalaya, and Fanshu, with the new fund’s LPs mostly being companies in the apparel supply chain. The establishment of Pearl Camp aligns with the investment strategy of “coming from the industry, going to the industry.” Industry partner Zhou Xuewen started from knit manufacturing and reached a billion-scale, successfully investing in emerging brands like Jiaonei and almod socks with a strategy of “cash plus supply chain empowerment.”
Pearl Camp primarily targets pearl brand founders, fashion category streamers, and fashion brand executives, aiming to enhance brand power and establish Chinese pearl brands.
Once admitted to the camp, participants will “accelerate” in two dimensions: cognition and resources. In terms of cognition, there will be mentorship in multiple areas such as brand, strategy, marketing, e-commerce, organization, and AI tools; in terms of resources, participants will receive targeted support from the supply chain leader in raw material supply, as well as empowerment in traffic and channel from top live-streaming rooms and DP/TP, with the potential to receive investment from the industry fund.
| Source: Angeperle, Cangyuan Capital
| Image Credit: Cangyuan Capital
丨Reporter：Zhao Xiaoyue
| Editor: LeZhi
