Ant Financial-backed Citybox has received series A capital from a host of venture capital firms to fund deployment of 5,000 retail terminals by mid-2018.

Citybox, a China-based smart vending machine operator backed by financial services platform Ant Financial, has obtained $15m in a series A round, China Money Network reported today.

The funding was provided by GGV Capital, Yunqi Partners, Blue Lake Capital and Zhen Fund.

Citybox operates vending machines that users open by scanning a QR code. They can then take the fresh produce they would like to purchase and a bill is automatically sent to their smartphone when they close the door…