Singapore-headquartered healthcare investment firm Quadria Capital announced on January 18 the completion of its US$90 million investment in Con Cung, Vietnam’s largest and fastest-growing mom and baby retail network. The investment will be used to support Con Cung’s ambition to launch 2,000 local stores by 2025, expand its product portfolio, and develop an all-in-one super app that provides personalized products and services for over five million Vietnamese mothers.

Founded in 2011, Con Cung is a household name in the mother-and-baby products industry with over 600 fully-owned stores across 45 provinces and cities in Vietnam. The company retails over 2,000 stock-keeping units (SKUs) of mom and baby care products, such as milk powder, diapers, bottled nutrition and vitamins, equipment and baby fashion products. It holds exclusive distribution rights for a number of international brands, including from Japan, the United States, Australia and South Korea, and actively collaborates with leading factories across Asia to develop and manufacture private-label childcare products that are safe, high-quality and affordable.

Commenting on the investment, Con Cung co-founder and chairman Minh Nguyen says the company is aiming to be the one-stop destination for mothers to fulfil their maternity and baby-care needs in a convenient and safe environment. “To do so, we recognize the need to expand our retail channels, both online and offline, and create a holistic ecosystem to support mothers and families,” he adds.

Quadria Capital managing director Ewan Davis says they have lined up several collaborations to help Con Cung penetrate the health and wellness segment, as well as further develop better mother and child centric products and services. “The Covid-19 pandemic has shown us just how important it is for us to prioritize health and well-being. This makes our mission of empowering healthcare-focused companies even more crucial, especially in serving vulnerable populations such as growing families with infants and young children,” he points out.

Over the past four years, Con Cung has been growing exponentially at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 70%. It launched its first app in 2019 in response to an upsurge in mobile-based purchases and succeeded in doubling its store footprint between 2019 and 2021.

Quadria Capital is bringing in Robert Willet as part of its investment and will join the board of directors at Con Cung. Willet is regarded as a leading global retail expert with deep familiarity with the Vietnam retail scene. He was former CEO of Best Buy International and global managing partner of Accenture’s retail practice.

Con Cung is the latest in a series of healthcare and consumer health investments that Quadria Capital has made in Asia just 18 months after the successful closure of its US$595 million Quadria Capital Fund II. In 2021, the firm invested in Encube Ethicals, an India-based global manufacturer of topical drugs; Nobel Hygiene, India’s largest private manufacturer of disposable hygiene products; and PT Medikaloka Hermina, one of the largest private hospital groups in Indonesia.

In 2017, Quadria Capital invested in FV Hospital in Vietnam, a hospital accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI) providing high-quality care to the population in Ho Chi Minh City and the surrounding region of south Vietnam. JCI accreditation is internationally recognized for its rigorous assessment of healthcare quality.

Given the rapid deployment of Quadria Capital Fund II, Quadria says it is making preparations to raise Quadria Capital Fund III to continue its mission of supporting healthcare and consumer health-related companies in the region.