Outopia’s Series B Fuels China’s New Wave of Outdoor Trail Brands

Outopia, a young Chinese outdoor performance brand founded in 2021, has secured a new Series B funding round to accelerate its shift from niche trail running label to broader outdoor lifestyle player. The round is led by Meridian Capital with participation from Challenjers Capital, Ventech China, and Shunwei Capital, though the exact amount remains undisclosed.

Founder story and positioning

Founded in Shanghai by former Lululemon executive Aaron Jackson and former LVMH Asia Pacific executive Alexis Hou, Outopia targets what it calls the ‘next generation professional outdoor market,’ starting with trail running. The company operates with an international team spread across China, New Zealand, and Australia, blending global sourcing and design experience with local market insight.

The brand launched with merino blend performance gear, including a trail running T shirt and shell pieces that apply high end yarn technologies previously used in footwear. That merino story has become a signature, used to build credibility with serious runners before moving into adjacent outdoor categories.

Product range and design language

Today, Outopia offers six main product lines, spanning base layers, soft shells, and hard shells, alongside gear for skiing and cycling. A headline piece is the Vita Shell ultralight jacket, priced at ¥2,111 (around $305) on its Tmall store and recognized at the ISPO Awards in the running and trail running category.

Visually, the brand leans into vivid color palettes, tie dye treatments and playful, almost fun run graphics, setting it apart from more muted European outdoor labels. The combination of technical merino and expressive design is pitched at younger consumers who want a performance product that also looks like lifestyle wear off the trail.

Funding track record and retail expansion

Before this latest round, Outopia closed an A‑round/A+ financing that pushed its valuation above ¥500 million (about $72.3 million), backed by investors including Shunwei Capital, which has now participated in three consecutive rounds. That vote of confidence has supported a rapid move from pure DTC into physical retail.

The brand opened its first store in Chengdu in 2024, then expanded into at least five more cities, reportedly including Beijing, Chongqing, Nanjing, and Hangzhou, by late 2025. The new funding is earmarked for further offline growth and deeper penetration of key outdoor hubs in China.

Investor view: from niche to lifestyle

Explaining the bet, Meridian Capital managing partner Wang Weiwei said, “We see the unique value in the trending social concept ‘first trail run’ and how that has impacted young people”. He highlighted Outopia’s commitment to supporting users “throughout their trail running experiences,” not just selling gear, as a key reason for backing the company.

Investors describe the strategy as a classic scale‑up move: leverage professional grade product credibility to grow from specialist trail label into a broader outdoor lifestyle identity. 

Execution focus areas include revenue growth, store rollout, and athlete/community development to tap into China’s roughly 400 million outdoor sports participants and a category where online outdoor apparel sales grew about 26% in the first half of 2025.

Competitive and market context

The funding lands in a China sportswear market where global majors like Nike are working through excess inventory and expected to stabilise, while smaller performance players such as Lululemon, On, and Hoka continue to gain share. Domestic outdoor brands are also on the rise as government health and wellness policies push participation, and sportswear is forecast to grow at mid‑single digits, faster than broader apparel and footwear.

For Outopia, the challenge now is defending its technical edge while widening its lifestyle appeal in a segment that is starting to resemble a high growth emerging market rather than a mature category. How it balances merino driven performance, bold aesthetics, and scale will determine whether this Series B becomes the bridge from cult trail label to mainstream outdoor name.