Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group has led a $206 million investment in US online retailer ShopRunner.

Kynetic and American Express Co also joined the funding round.

“Alibaba and American Express recognise ShopRunner will have a significant role in the US e-commerce market,” said former Yahoo Inc CEO Scott Thompson, who runs ShopRunner, in a statement.

“This funding will help accelerate ShopRunner’s growth and enable us to continue to build great online shopping experiences for our members,” adds Thompson.

Two months ago, Alibaba acquired a minority stake in ShopRunner for $175 million.

ShopRunner, which competes with Amazon, is a strategic investment for Alibaba as it can help the Chinese company familiarise itself with the US market, where it plans an IPO.

Alibaba has recently been making big investments, including web sports retailer Fanatics, Internet mapping company Autonavi and apps search engine Quixey, to boost its existing businesses.