his unbelievableSeoul-based Fashion Market said on Wednesday it has raised a $190 million Series C round led by KKR with participation from Wellington Management.
The new capital values Musinsa at about $2.76 billion (more than 3 trillion won), according to people familiar with the matter. The South Korean fashion e-commerce startup declined to provide an exact valuation figure, but confirmed to TechCrunch that it is valued at more than 3 trillion won. In 2021, when the startup recovers, the post-money valuation will rise from the previous US$2 billion (2.5 trillion won) $115 million in Series B funding From Sequoia Capital and IMM Investment. The total amount of funds raised since 2001 is now about $330 million (430 billion won).
Through the C round of financing, Musinsa will continue to expand online and offline businesses and expand overseas markets And make acquisitions to diversify the portfolio. Musinsa, which used to only sell men’s clothing products, Acquired women’s clothing online shopping platforms 29CM and StyleShare Spend $265 million in 2021 to expand its customer base and product categories.
When asked about its IPO plans, a Musinsa spokesperson told TechCrunch that the company “plans to discuss the possibility of an IPO in the second half of 2024.”
with local competitors such as Kakao’s fashion platform Zigzag, W concept for South Korean retail giant Shinsegaeand Brandi is supported by NaverMusinsa is one of the largest and most popular fashion marketplaces, offering more than 8,000 local and foreign fashion brands to 13 million users. The startup claims an annual gross merchandise value (GMV) of more than 3 trillion won (approximately $2.35 billion) by 2022.
As early as 2018, Musinsa established a venture capital department, Musinza Partnerssupporting small and medium-sized start-ups in the fashion industry.
Musinsa’s 2022 sales will be 708.3 billion won ($545 million), up 54% year-on-year and more than three times its pre-pandemic sales in 2019. But its operating profit plummeted to $2.5 million in 2022 due to overinvestment in international expansion and losses in the business.ts sneakers resale unit SLDT, According to media reports.
“Musinsa has grown into Korea’s top consumer internet platform and a differentiated marketplace with its ability to scale up emerging brands, support the fashion creator economy, attract customers and provide them with a high-quality e-commerce experience,” said Mukul Chawla. KKR Partner and Head of Growth Equity Asia, said in a statement. “We see a huge opportunity for Musinsa to solidify its leading position in the fast-growing K-fashion (Korean fashion) market, which continues to shift online and expand globally on the back of K-culture’s explosive presence.
The latest funding marks KKR’s first technology growth investment in South Korea under its Next Generation Technology (NGT) strategy, which supports innovative companies in Asia’s software, consumer technology and fintech sectors.Other investments in this private equity firm’s strategy include lens cardan Indian omnichannel eyewear retailer; Advanced Navigation, an Australian developer of artificial intelligence robotics; Privy, an Indonesian digital identity provider; grow sareea B2B e-commerce platform for Philippine SMEs; NetStars, a Japanese QR code payment gateway operator.
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