Valued at 10 billion? XiBei has raised funds again.

Amid the storm, Xiabei secured financing.

According to data from CVSource of Touzhong Jiachuan, Inner Mongolia Xiabei Catering Group Co., Ltd. received Series A financing. The investors include Taizhou Xinrongtai Investment Co., Ltd., Hohhot Jiti Gongchuang Enterprise Management Center (Limited Partnership), Chengdu Xunda Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., Hangzhou Zhouxuan Equity Investment Management Partnership (Limited Partnership), etc.

This provided crucial "blood transfusion" support for Xiabei after it was deeply embroiled in a public opinion crisis and operational difficulties.

Did Xinrongtai Investment's move value Xiabei at 10 billion yuan?

Among the new investors in this round, the biggest highlight is Xinrongtai Investment. Equity penetration shows that it is 100% owned by Zhang Yong, the founder of the high - end Chinese cuisine brand "Xinrongji". After the capital increase, Xinrongtai holds 4.42% of Xiabei's equity, and the other four new shareholders hold a combined 11.57%.

Further investigation reveals that Xinrongji originated from a small "ocean - flavored" food stall in Linhai, Taizhou, Zhejiang in 1995, and currently has 18 stores. Previously, when Jia Guolong first ventured into the catering business, he started with a seafood restaurant. Despite two failures, his path subtly echoes that of Zhang Yong.

Therefore, this investment is also regarded by the outside world as mutual support among bosses in the catering industry.

However, beyond support, the market may be more concerned about: How much is Xiabei really worth? An "accidental" disclosure in a financial report provided the answer.

The third - quarter report of Xinchao Media shows that the company invested 100 million yuan in Xiabei from January to September 2025. The industrial and commercial information on Qichacha shows that Xinchao Media currently holds 1% of Xiabei's equity. Based on this calculation, Xiabei's post - investment valuation at that time had reached 10 billion yuan.

But this was the valuation when Xinchao Media invested in Xiabei from January to September 2025. It is still unknown whether Xiabei's valuation is still worth 10 billion yuan under the current circumstances. However, it is certain that Jia Guolong has indeed found the "life - saving money" to deal with this crisis.

As a well - known mass catering brand in China, Xiabei is not relying on external financing to overcome difficulties for the first time. Data shows that since its establishment, Xiabei has received a total of four rounds of financing. It is worth noting that Jingheng Investment was involved in the first two rounds of investment.

In 2017, in the year of its establishment, Xiabei received an investment from Jingheng Investment. The latter, through its affiliated entities - Beijing Jingheng Investment Management Co., Ltd. and Qingdao Jingheng Growth Venture Capital Investment Partnership (Limited Partnership), participated in Xiabei's angel - round financing respectively.

Then, in July 2021, it again completed a strategic investment in Xiabei through these two entities.

Data from CVSource of Touzhong Jiachuan shows that Jingheng Investment is an investment management institution established in Beijing in 2014. Its team members all come from asset management institutions such as large - scale fund companies and securities companies. The founder, Liu Yongyan, graduated from the University of Greenwich in the UK with a major in finance and accounting and has been working at Beijing Jingheng Investment Management Co., Ltd. since January 2014.

If the investment by shareholders like Xinrongtai Investment is a timely rescue in the industry, then Jingheng Investment provided financial support to Xiabei in its early development stage. Data shows that with the help of Jingheng Investment, by the end of 2024, Xiabei had opened nearly 400 stores, covering 62 cities, and continued to expand its market coverage.

At the beginning of 2025, Xiabei also refreshed its brand, upgrading "Xiabei Youmian Village" to "Xiabei XIBEI", putting forward the brand proposition of "Give the best to children", and launching new products such as "Xiabei New Roast Duck" to try to expand the brand's imagination space.

As an early investor, as of now, Jingheng Investment still holds about 3% of Xiabei's shares.

A "tough guy" from Inner Mongolia's entrepreneurial journey through several "life - and - death moments"

Although Jia Guolong wanted to expand Xiabei's brand at the beginning of 2025, the person - in - charge of Xiabei and the protagonist in the storm has experienced several "life - and - death moments" on his entrepreneurial journey.

This "tough guy" from Inner Mongolia first entered the catering industry in 1999. At that time, he first tried a seafood restaurant in Shenzhen, but it lost more than one million yuan in nine months due to the unpalatable taste for local customers. The next year, Jia Guolong moved to Beijing to try the seafood business again, and lost more than one million yuan within four months.

After successive failures, Jia Guolong completely abandoned the seafood business and re - thought about the direction. So, he began to focus on the northwest cuisine of his hometown, thus laying the core positioning of "Xiabei Youmian Village".

However, what really made the public familiar with Xiabei might be the COVID - 19 pandemic in 2021. At that time, nearly 400 Xiabei stores were basically closed, and only more than 100 stores provided take - out services. Chairman Jia Guolong immediately publicly called out on Weibo, saying that "the cash on the books is only enough to last for three months" and urgently appealed to financial institutions to provide loans to pay the salaries of more than 20,000 employees.

This incident not only quickly made Xiabei the focus of public opinion but also made the public feel the difficult environment of the physical catering industry during the pandemic. It was also this statement that made Xiabei leap from a regional northwest cuisine restaurant to a well - known national catering brand.

However, the higher the popularity, the higher the public supervision. In September 2025, Luo Yonghao publicly questioned on Weibo that Xiabei used high - priced pre - made dishes, saying that they were "overpriced and lack sincerity", which triggered a storm of public opinion, and the public began to widely discuss the transparency of the catering industry.

After the incident fermented, Xiabei faced a decline in customer flow and the closure of some stores. According to public reports, Xiabei founder Jia Guolong confirmed in January 2026 that 102 stores across the country would be closed, accounting for 30% of the total number of stores. At the same time, this incident also sparked online disputes, and some employees even faced negative online reviews.

During the process, although Jia Guolong repeatedly said that he would sue Luo Yonghao and emphasized that Xiabei did not use pre - made dishes, the continuous fermentation of this incident has led to a decline in consumers' trust in Xiabei, making this veteran in the catering industry once again reach a "crossroads" of life and death.

Where will Xiabei go after the new financing?

After the dispute over pre - made dishes with Luo Yonghao, many media reported that none of Xiabei's stores were profitable. As of now, Xiabei's losses have exceeded 500 million yuan. At the same time, Jia Guolong revealed to the media in January 2026 that it is estimated that from September 2025 to March 2026, Xiabei will accumulate losses of more than 600 million yuan.

In a sense, this new round of financing may be life - saving money for Jia Guolong and Xiabei. However, after the crisis is temporarily alleviated, Jia Guolong and Xiabei will face a deeper - level battle of trust reconstruction and strategic transformation.

Regarding this incident, I saw someone in my WeChat Moments comment that Luo Yonghao's criticism of Xiabei stemmed from the fact that under the pre - made dishes model, Xiabei's dishes were not worth the price. At the same time, as a northwest cuisine restaurant, this person in the WeChat Moments thought that the portion sizes of Xiabei's dishes were even smaller than those of some Hangzhou dishes.

"For example, a serving of steamed youmian dumplings in some stores may only have three pieces, but the price ranges from 29 to 43 yuan. At the same time, some meat dishes also have this problem. For example, a serving of shredded spicy chicken cost 49 yuan before the price cut, but the portion was not large." This person said.

On some social media and group - buying platforms, many consumers also reported that Xiabei has the problems of "small portion sizes and high prices". Especially in the current consumption environment, consumers are sensitive to cost - effectiveness and believe that the price of Xiabei's dishes does not match the portion size.

A well - known consumer investor once said that the high - frequency and essential consumption fields are the core directions of consumer investment, and these fields have natural anti - cyclical properties. At the same time, enterprises should pursue "good quality at a low price" and provide consumers with high - cost - effective products and services by optimizing the supply chain and improving production efficiency.

In the view of this investor, ultimate cost - effectiveness is the key to meeting the mass consumption needs. Especially at present, consumers are highly sensitive to prices, and enterprises need to control costs and achieve a balance between price and value on the premise of ensuring quality.

In contrast, if Xiabei's cost - effectiveness remains low or it does not pay attention to the current public's focus on quality, "practicality" and "affordability", then even if it completes a new round of financing, it may encounter a second or third "Luo Yonghao" in the near future.

By then, will Jia Guolong and Xiabei still encounter "timely rescuers" and "white - knight investors"? If so, how many shares will Jia Guolong exchange as "chips"?

This article is from the WeChat official account "Dongshisi Tiao Capital" (ID: DsstCapital), author: Chen Mei, editor: Wang Qingwu. Republished by 36Kr with permission.