Korea's Kurly raises $164m Series E

It is being touted as the largest round this year for a Korean start-up. Korea’s VC space is seen as well-positioned to weather COVID-19 disruption, although investment has declined sharply, with only one deal surpassing $20 million in the first quarter of 2020.

DST Global led the round. The firm has significant experience in the grocery delivery category, having backed two of India's biggest operators, Swiggy and Grofers. Several of Kurly’s Series D backers, including Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, SK Networks, Translink Capital, and Fuse Venture Partners, a UK investor formerly known as Global Venture Partners, also participated.

Fuse led the KRW100 billion Series D last year with additional support from DST, UTC Investment, Korea Investment Partners, Capstone Partners, and Mirae Asset Venture Investment. Mirae and Hillhouse are also investors in Swiggy.

Aspex Management, a Hong Kong firm that made its debut investment last year in Korean payments app Viva Republica, joined the round as a new investor. Previous backers include GN Tech Venture Capital, DS Investment, and LB Investment. Kurly has raised KRW420 billion since inception in 2015.

Kurly positions itself as Korea’s first fresh grocery delivery app and the market leader with five million registered users as of last month. The company – originally known as The Farmers – was founded by Sophie Kim, who previously worked for Bain & Company, Temasek Holdings, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs. 

Operations focus on morning delivery, with a full cold chain system capable of taking orders made before 11 p.m. and delivering them by 7 a.m. the next day. Expertise on food trends is a key part of the service. There is a dedicated team for curating a unique product list of rare and premium items such as mat ganjang, a range of flavored soy sauces. 

Kurly posted annual average growth of 3.5x during its first four years, achieving revenue of KRW429 billion in 2019. That year, the company expanded its fulfillment capacity by 4.9x and grew its number of deliveries by 2.9x. Plans for further growth include a new fulfillment center in the Seoul area, which will be 2.5x larger than existing facilities.

“Kurly has been showing incomparable growth in the fast-expanding online grocery market, and as the first to establish morning deliveries, has demonstrated its ability to disrupt the logistics industry and change the grocery shopping habits of Korean consumers,” John Lindfors, a partner and head of Asia Pacific at DST, said in a statement. 

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Expansion
• Technology
• South Korea
• DST Advisors
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Sequoia Capital
• Translink Capital
• Global Venture Partners
• TMT
• Logistics