Meet the Immigrant Entrepreneur Who Turned Homesickness Into a $500 Million Business, Selling Asian Snacks and Nostalgia
The chocolate-covered breadsticks were a childhood symbol for many who grew up in Asia. Yami was the first online retailer in the U.S. to cure homesickness for millions of these new migrants, now turned into a business valued in the hundreds of millions.
Since its formation by Alex Zhou in 2013, Yami has quickly become the go-to website to shop a taste of home for generations of international students and foreign-born immigrants. It now carries everything related to Asian culture or origins—like a multi-functional soy milk maker ($399), a round storage box embedded in a bar chair ($210), a baby blanket with anime prints ($59), a penguin plush toy from Japan ($20), a bag of Chinese jujube longan wolfberry tea ($10), and the familiar Palm brand coconut milk drink ($1.29). Yami bears Zhou’s vision: “We hope Yami becomes the first choice for people who like products from Asian culture, so that everyone who likes these products will shop with us.”
That vision brought Yami to its over $500 million valuation, with two rounds of funds raised from JPMorgan and Altos Ventures, totaling over $100 million. Yami is the first to build an online retail store selling Asian snacks and, to many, the number one go-to when cravings hit.
Over the past decade, Zhou has faced many challenges, with competitors emerging from different angles. Many times, he found himself standing at a crossroads—deciding whether to stray or stay true to his original purpose. “I was stubborn,” Zhou said. “When people said no, I just kept showing up, because I knew I could make this work.” A quote on his office wall reads: “Anything in life worth doing is worth overdoing. Moderation is for cowards.” It’s a mantra that has guided Zhou through these pivotal moments. “It’s not about my dreams being big or small. The goal is always centered around the customers. If we communicate with customers and can always deliver, there is no ceiling to what we can do.”
It Started with a Thought
When Zhou first came to America, he was an international student with no relatives in the U.S., living near campus at Kansas State University, in what he describes as “the middle of nowhere.” The closest Chinese grocery store required a two-hour drive on the Interstate-70 highway.
But for Zhou and many international students, these dim little Chinese “bodegas” were their only option. Zhou often heard complaints from his peers.
He wasn’t alone. According to State Department data, there were 274,439 international students from China in 2013. Zhou sensed the trend was growing—and he was right. By 2019, the number had climbed to 370,000. As of 2023, over 2.6 million people born in Asia reside in the U.S.
Yet the only Asian supermarkets were concentrated in major cities, while many students and workers lived in small towns hours away.
“I saw a pain point,” Zhou said, “and I knew I could fix that, because I was one of them.”
He saw the solution in e-commerce. At the time, Chinese online retailers were riding the wave of success, buoyed by a rising middle class. Alibaba and JD.com were proof of this. By comparison, no one in the U.S. was doing something similar at a serious level. Zhou decided to fill that gap. He borrowed $50,000 from friends and family and started Yami from scratch — registering the domain, securing storage, and hiring a Chinese graphic designer to build the website for $700. “I was everything but the CEO,” Zhou recalled, as he handled everything from logistics to customer service.
To convince his first distributor to trust him with an account and allow Yami to carry their products, Zhou drove to the company every week, waiting outside for the manager. “He kept rejecting me,” Zhou said, but after more than six months of persistence, they became Yami’s first distributor.
The journey from there was far from smooth. The early infrastructure couldn’t handle demand, causing the website to crash during festivals or sales events. In 2015, Zhou had to take down the site entirely for two weeks to handle the volume. Operational improvements followed, but by 2019, rapid growth outpaced Yami’s cash flow. Zhou was forced to close several departments and lay off employees. “A tough decision,” as he described it.
Despite these setbacks, some ideas endured in different formats. A review-based section evolved into “community,” a social media-like function where users could post stories related to their purchases.
Zhou likens the journey to climbing a mountain, with the summit hidden in clouds. “The next challenge is always the biggest,” he said, “because it’s the one I don’t know the solution to yet.”
Next Steps
Yami is not alone in this space — competitors have emerged. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Yami experienced supply chain issues. Meanwhile online retailers like Weee!, which caters to both Asian and Hispanic communities, grew to prominence. With a fresh grocery model, Weee! attracted $800 million in investment through five funding rounds.
Interestingly, Professor Qiuyu Wang, who hosted Zhou for a speaker series at NYU, shared that Weee! had previously approached Yami with an acquisition offer. Zhou declined the offer, according to Wang, “lots of things changed during the pandemic.” Today, Weee! stands with a multibillion-dollar valuation.
Although Zhou acknowledges the competition, he believes Yami remains unique. The company has stayed true to its core mission of bringing Asian snacks — and now a broader range of products from Asia — conveniently to U.S. customers. Its customer base has also expanded among younger non-Asians, drawn by the rise of K-pop, anime, and other facets of Asian pop culture.
Yami is focused on improving its offerings based on customer feedback. With an international team and offices across the Asia-Pacific region, Zhou’s next priority is refining the business model for profitability.
“We can’t define the user base,” Zhou said, “but we can make sure we do one thing well — provide a good product and good service.”
Photo: AP Photo/Cliff Owen