Baby steps helping Mia.com to flourish

Breaking into the cross-border e-commerce market has been child's play for a startup with a difference.

Mia.com has managed to muscle its way into a sector dominated by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and JD.com Inc, which is part-owned by Tencent Holdings Ltd.

Carving out a niche spot in baby products, the four-year-old company is now valued at about $1 billion after receiving $150 million in funding from search engine giant Baidu Inc in September. Last year, its transaction volume topped 400 million yuan ($62.9 million).