Hillhouse leads $50m round for Korea's Baedal Minjok

AVCJ understands that US-based Altos Ventures is also participating in the round. The capital will be used to expand Woowa's business model into food logistics. Since its establishment in 2010, Baedal Minjok - which translates to "Delivery Nation" - has focused on processing customer orders for restaurants rather than physical delivery.

The move into delivery is expected to encompass the recruitment of motorcycles and drivers. It will target both fresh and prepared foods through the company's Baemin Fresh and Baemin Riders services, respectively. According to The Korea Economic Daily, Baemin Fresh order volumes are now growing at a rate of 20% per month.

Baedal Minjok was estimated last year to service some 140,000 restaurants while its mobile app has been downloaded more than 19 million times - equivalent to more than half of the country's population.

The business attracted a $36 million investment from a Goldman Sachs-led consortium in 2014. Prior to that, it received capital from BonAngels Venture Partners, IMM Investment, Stonebridge Capital, CyberAgent Ventures and Altos. Altos' participation in the latest round follows quickly on the close of the firm's second Korea-focused fund at $110 million.

Hillhouse targets companies across all equity stages with a focus on consumer-focused sectors, industrials, healthcare and the technology, media and telecommunications space.

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• Topics
• North Asia
• Consumer
• Technology
• Expansion
• South Korea
• Hillhouse Capital Management
• Altos Ventures
• TMT