Tongcheng Life
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
Tongcheng Life (同程生活) was a Suzhou community group-buying startup founded in August 2018 as a spinoff of the online travel agency Tongcheng-Elong, led by founder and CEO He Pengyu. It ran a WeChat mini-program where neighbors bought groceries — mainly fruit and vegetables — in bulk at discounts: the company sourced directly from farmers, community leaders coordinated each neighborhood's orders, and shoppers picked up goods themselves. It focused on lower-tier Chinese cities and at its peak was valued at $1 billion.
02 / Tongcheng Life FAILURE REASONS
Failure reasons
Tongcheng Life was crushed when China's internet giants — Meituan, Pinduoduo and Alibaba — poured subsidies into community group buying, igniting a price war the startup could not match. Regulators then banned below-cost selling in December 2020, cutting off the subsidy weapon it had relied on. Its franchisee-led expansion left fulfillment fragmented and hard to standardize, and as cash flow failed it defaulted on supplier payments — reportedly owing RMB 200 million to more than 1,000 suppliers — becoming the first leading group-buying unicorn to fail.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
Tongcheng Life is founded in Suzhou in August 2018 as a Tongcheng-Elong spinoff for community group buying of fresh produce.
- Funding round
The company closes a $100 million round led by Legend Capital.
- Series C
Tongcheng Life raises a $200 million Series C led by Joyy Inc, reaching a valuation above $700 million on its way to unicorn status.
- Bankruptcy
After rebranding to Micheng Life the previous day, Tongcheng Life files for bankruptcy on July 6–7, 2021, amid supplier protests over unpaid bills.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN
How the factors connect
- 01
On July 6–7, 2021, Tongcheng Life filed for bankruptcy, reportedly owing RMB 200 million (about $31 million) to more than 1,000 suppliers.
- 02
Creditors were offered two plans: 40% of dues within 10 working days with the rest distributed under court-supervised liquidation, or 60% within 10 days in exchange for forfeiting the remaining 40%.