Backed by IDG and Anker, a Shenzhen-based smart office and home furnishings seller rakes in over $500 million annually | Insight Global

Editor's Note: As going global increasingly becomes a core strategy for Chinese companies, how to conquer the global market has become an extremely professional topic. In the evolution of globalization, many Chinese brands have stood at the forefront. In view of this, TechKrunch has launched the "Insight Global" column to explore the cutting - edge directions and opportunities of Chinese brands going global from the perspective of brand growth and change, providing inspiration and food for thought for companies going global and the industry.

This is the 50th issue of our column. Starting from an innovative TV stand, this Shenzhen - based enterprise, BESTQI, has successfully carved out a differentiated path in the overseas market. While the industry is still mired in homogeneous competition and price wars, BESTQI has penetrated the mid - to high - end market with its independently developed ergonomic technology and intelligent design. In 2024, the company's annual sales exceeded $500 million, and it is expected to exceed $700 million in 2025, which proves its strategic determination to weather market cycles with product strength.

Author: Ou Xue

Editor: Yuan Silai

In 2024, with the booming sales of smart home and office products, BESTQI's annual sales have exceeded $500 million. It has received investments from IDG and Anker Innovations and is one of the few Chinese companies that can compete with established overseas manufacturers.

When Lü Yaqi, the founder of BESTQI, returned to China to start his business, it was just the beginning of Amazon's cross - border e - commerce boom. In an era when selling white - label products could generate huge profits, Lü Yaqi spent two years optimizing his products.

In 2017, BESTQI launched an ergonomic TV stand, which quickly climbed to the second place on Amazon's Best Seller list, with monthly revenues reaching a maximum of over $800,000.

BESTQI was, of course, one of the sellers that reaped the benefits of the era. However, nine years later, some have disappeared, and some have retired after achieving success. Only a few remain in the game. These survivors are more aware than anyone else that the era of getting rich overnight by selling white - label products is over, and the battlefield now belongs to brand - oriented sellers.

From the very beginning, BESTQI chose a path that requires more investment, takes longer to get started, but is more sustainable. Therefore, while its peers are still trapped in price wars and homogeneous competition, BESTQI can create added value for a series of products such as TV stands and monitor stands through intelligent design and technological differentiation, and penetrate mid - to high - end households in Europe and the United States.

In Lü Yaqi's view, for Chinese companies going global to truly gain a foothold in the global market, they cannot rely solely on cost - effectiveness and traffic - driven strategies. Instead, they need to have a deep understanding of user scenarios.

Even in seemingly mature categories such as TV stands and monitor stands, there are still a large number of unmet niche demands, such as a smoother adjustment experience, more natural intelligent linkage, or a design more suitable for small spaces.

This also reveals a key lesson that Chinese companies going global tend to overlook: in ordinary product categories, there are still a large number of scenario - based demands that have not been fully met. Companies that truly understand user needs will ultimately win the market.

Starting from TV Stands

BESTQI joined Amazon as soon as it was founded in 2016. By 2017, it became an instant hit on Amazon's US site with a TV stand that was different from traditional ones. This product, featuring an innovative structure and lightweight design, climbed to the second place on the Best Seller list and ranked first in terms of sales volume in its category.

Behind this blockbuster product was a two - year painstaking effort by a team of twenty to thirty people. "We poured all our resources into this single product, from structural design to process details, from optimizing product detail pages to after - sales service," recalled Lü Yaqi.

Lü Yaqi, an engineer by background, said to TechKrunch, "I'm not good at platform operation, but I know how to polish products."

The success of the TV stand allowed the team to see opportunities for scenario - based expansion. The company's product portfolio started with monitor stands and gradually expanded to the standing desk category, once ranking first in a niche category on Amazon.

BESTQI's TV stand products (Source: Company's official website)

"Once the desks are successful, chairs will naturally be the next entry point," said Lü Yaqi. "Customers who buy standing desks are likely to buy a good chair, creating a natural scenario - based closed - loop."

"In the European and American markets, high - end chairs can sell for one to two thousand dollars, but they hardly have any real intelligent functions. This is an opportunity for Chinese brands," said Lü Yaqi.

In 2021, BESTQI reached an important turning point with a joint investment from IDG Capital and Anker Innovations. "The investors said they finally found a founder who 'truly focuses on product development'," recalled Lü Yaqi.

After receiving the investment, BESTQI accelerated its global layout. Its main brand focuses on ergonomics, while sub - brands such as Huano and Pailelong target niche markets such as standing desks and TV carts. The sub - brands have covered mature markets in Europe, America, and Japan and plan to expand to emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. The company expects its sales to exceed $700 million in 2025.

BESTQI's success proves a truth: in today's increasingly competitive cross - border e - commerce market, only by returning to the essence of products and truly understanding user needs can companies establish sustainable competitive advantages in the global market. "The product itself is the best traffic engine," summarized Lü Yaqi.

Stepping into the Era of 'Intelligent Ergonomics'

The global office furniture market is a typical "stable but low - innovation" track. Although there is a wide variety of global office and household equipment, there has been a long - term lack of real innovation. The office products of established manufacturers such as Herman Miller and IKEA mostly stay at the basic function level, with a low degree of integration of intelligence and scenarios.

This lack of innovation also means opportunities. According to third - party data, the global office furniture market was worth $57.51 billion in 2024. The US market is particularly strong, and its scale is expected to exceed $15.44 billion by 2032, mainly driven by the increasing demand for ergonomics and modern office solutions.

In Lü Yaqi's view, future desks and chairs should be more intelligent and automated, eliminating the need for repeated manual adjustments. "Customers currently find it troublesome to adjust chairs. This is not only a pain point but also an opportunity," he said.

What BESTQI is doing is making ergonomic products smarter. For example, its intelligent TV stand can adjust the rotation angle through voice control. Imagine: you're cooking in the kitchen, and with a single command, the TV automatically turns towards you; when your baby is playing in the living room, mom can glance at the screen at any time.

This is also the development direction of BESTQI: to design office and household products with built - in "brains" and provide scenario - based solutions.

BESTQI creates an intelligent workspace (Source: Company's official website)

Perhaps related to Lü Yaqi's past experience, although BESTQI is in the consumer goods business, it has a strong engineering culture.

In 2023, BESTQI independently developed an intelligent and AI platform to enable deeper product interaction and customization.

Currently, BESTQI has integrated an AI voice - control module into its standing desks and plans to extend it to more product lines. Although the current market demand for intelligent functions may only account for 2%, Lü Yaqi predicts that this proportion will rise to 20% in the future, contributing 80% of the industry's profits.

In the next three to five years, BESTQI has a clear goal: to achieve continuous double - digit growth while increasing profits. The paths are also clear: first, to fully intelligentize products; second, to focus on high - end differentiated products; third, to deepen offline channels.

Although the company has a 40% market share in several audio - visual niche categories, the ceiling is already visible. To achieve continuous double - digit growth, it must expand the breadth and depth of product categories along the two lines of "ergonomics" and "intelligent structure".

"The era of extensive development in cross - border e - commerce is over. The future belongs to companies with truly useful products and trustworthy brands," summarized Lü Yaqi.