Despite the many challenges over the last year, it has been a year of phenomenal growth and major milestones achieved by the Group. The stand-out event was our over-subscribed IPO and listing onto the Apex segment of the Aquis Growth Market. Our listing was only possible due to the solid foundations we had built since incorporation and the successful execution of our strategy to make the world's largest but most complex eCommerce market more accessible through our technology and expertise.
Our teams in the UK and China responded and adapted remarkably well to perhaps the most disruptive event in our generation. Our UK distribution centre remained opened throughout the pandemic whilst maintaining the highest levels of safety for the operational teams working there. Our priority going forward is to continue providing a safe working environment and ensuring our teams remain safe, supported and motivated.
Our IPO & Strategic Investment
In March 2021 we successfully completed our IPO and admission on to the Aquis Growth Market in London in what was the first time a growth prospectus had been used in Europe. The IPO was supported by both institutional and retail investors and due to the high demand the amount raised was increased from the initial target of GBP10m to GBP17m. This was quickly followed by a further strategic investment by one of the leading express delivery companies in China, with whom we have been working for several years. Whilst the net proceeds of GBP3.1m will help to accelerate our growth, it is the commitment from such a major partner and the opportunity that represents which is truly significant.
The IPO has enabled many of our colleagues to become shareholders and I am very pleased that over 10.4% of the shares in issue are currently held by employees. The support from our initial investor, Smollan Group, one of the world's leading retail service companies, continues and they converted an GBP1m loan note to equity.
Nomad Technology
The development of our technology continues at pace. We have increased our development and delivery capability to allow us to roll out our solutions faster and further afield. Our solutions are now being deployed by major enterprises in Europe and Asia which represent a huge addressable market. In Europe one of the largest eCommerce companies has deployed our Nomad Checkout solution to their flagship eCommerce site. In Northeast Asia, in line with our strategy to expand into this market, one of the world's largest beauty conglomerates is also deploying our Nomad Checkout solution to power direct-to-consumer sales from South Korea to Chinese consumers. North America is another enormous market opportunity for our technology and the group is already in advance discussions with a major partner for the market. We expect to provide an update on this in due course.
With projects already underway and adoption of our technology by multi-national corporations we are executing our vision of becoming an integral part of the infrastructure that will power eCommerce between China and the rest of the world on the digital silk road. I'm very excited about what comes next and the potential for our solutions to help the millions of smaller merchants that have great potential in the world's largest eCommerce market but currently lack access.
Buy in the West Build in the East
In line with our strategy of acquiring businesses in the West with high growth potential in Asia we completed our first acquisition since the IPO in May. The acquisition of Zita West Products Limited ("ZWPL") and 51% of Baba West Ltd ("BW") is complimentary to the existing health brand owned by the Group, Probio7 and is positioned for significant growth in China through the Group's sales channels and technology. Zita West herself is a world-renowned specialist in fertility, IVF and assisted reproductive therapy (ART). The Zita West clinics have treated thousands of couples and has amongst the highest success rates in the UK. Zita is a widely published author on the subject of fertility and reproductive health and the range of nutritional supplements that have been developed over the last 20 years are specifically designed to support this process. As the global birth rates has dropped, China has become the biggest consumer of ART and in the same month as the acquisition, the Chinese government announced the introduction of a "3 child policy" to reverse the population decline. The acquisition of ZWPL represents a significant opportunity to rapidly grow this brand in the world's largest market.
The performance of our health brand, Probio7, has continued to improve throughout 2020. During the pandemic wholesale to retailer sales dropped significantly due to lockdown closures. The impact of this was offset by the higher margin sales through our own eCommerce channels and the enormous growth the brand experienced in the Chinese market during this period. When we acquired Probio7 in December 2017 it was a brand with a loyal consumer following developed over 20 years and had grown sales to GBP1.2m annually over that time. In FY2021 under our ownership, sales increased to GBP3.5m with over GBP1.7m coming from launching the brand in China.
We will continue to evaluate opportunities and acquisitions that fit within our strategy and are complementary to our portfolio.
Accelerated Investment
The original target for the fund raising of GBP10m was significantly surpassed which has allowed us to invest more aggressively to accelerate our strategy. We have significantly increased investment in our technology and operational teams and have begun the process of expansion into other international markets starting with Japan and continental Europe.
The company now employs over 140 up from 61 in March 2020. All of our employees are working extremely hard to deliver the objectives of the business, innovating and creating solutions to problems that are complex to solve in one of the fastest moving and changing industries. Our technology team which now spans the UK and China has increased from 14 in March 2021 to 23 in July 2021. The team has successfully delivered our unique Nomad Checkout solution across a number of eCommerce sites for one of Europe's largest eCommerce companies, providing a strong validation both of our technology and the addressable market for our solutions.
Markets and the Environment
In 2014, the Chinese government introduced the first policies designed to promote the cross-border eCommerce industry. These included pilot free trade zones, preferential tax policy for goods purchased through this route and dispensations on products in certain categories such as no need for animal testing on skincare and cosmetic products which was previously required for general imports. Since then, this policy has been further strengthened with more free trade zones, even lower tax rates and higher transaction limits. During this time China has become the global leader in eCommerce both in terms of size and scale but also innovation. Social commerce and live-streaming is a phenomenon that started in China and has grown at an incredible rate, from USD4bn in 2017 to a forecasted USD300bn this year. This represents an enormous opportunity but also comes with it's own set of challenges as traffic moves to different platforms and channels at a relentless pace. We have experienced that first-hand with some of the channels we work on moving to Douyin where we didn't have a presence initially. We have now integrated Nomad into this very exciting platform and plan to generate our first sales in the coming months.
An interesting development is the adoption of these livestream technologies and trends appearing in Western markets which presents unique opportunities for the Group as one of the few Western companies with such exposure to what, I believe will become the dominant form of eCommerce for the Post 2000 generation in markets outside of China in the near future.
In the aftermath of the pandemic, there have been some notable developments in the market and industry in which we operate that present future opportunities and challenges. COVID-19 has caused immense disruption to international travel which is one of the ways Western brands have been discovered by Chinese consumers. This disruption has resulted in a rise of domestic Chinese brands replacing the once popular international brands. The almost complete cessation of international travel by Chinese tourists to overseas destinations means that the consumers who do want to purchase international brands have had to do so online which has created opportunities particularly in markets such as Japan and South Korea that have relied on physical retail and tourism. In response we have accelerated our timeline to enter these markets.
Commentary on KPIs
With the launch and rollout of our Nomad Checkout solution, one of the key KPI's we will be focussed over the next 12 months is the adoption and retention of merchants installing and using the solution. The merchant has the option to take an off-the-shelf plugin for eCommerce software platforms such as Shopify or an Enterprise version for companies that require a tailored solution to fit with their own technology and fulfilment processes.
Top line revenue is a key metric however the way we derive that revenue will evolve and change as we execute our plan. We anticipate that as more of our technology is adopted by clients it will become more repeatable and with a higher gross margin than revenue derived from our "buy-and-sell" model and own brand sales.
Outlook statement
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