Coupang aims for NASDAQ listing as early as 1st half of 2013

Local social commerce firm Coupang’s chief executive said Wednesday that the firm will be listed on the U.S. stock market as early as the first half of next year.

“We aim to be listed on the NASDAQ market as early as the first half and by the end of next year at least, but we will look for the right timing,” CEO Kim Bom-suk said.

“We raised yearly sales of 600-700 billion won in 22 months and this is not a common situation even in the U.S. It shows the potential for the Korean market,” said Kim.

The 34-year-old CEO of the country’s top social commerce firm also said that not many realize how attractive the Korean market is at this point and that it will change once the firm gets listed on NASDAQ.

According to data from Statistics Korea, the business volume of cyber shopping amounted to about 29 trillion won last year, up 15.3 percent from the previous year.

“We’re hoping that this becomes a chance for others to look at the high potential of the Korean electronic commerce market,” Kim said. “We have to do the right story-telling and also grab the right timing.”

Stating that a firm needs to prove it has sound financials to be listed on NASDAQ, the chief executive said he believes its customer-centric business model and the firm’s profitable e-commerce model, which is running independently from top search engine Naver, will enable the listing next year.

Coupang ― which prefers to be called an e-commerce firm rather than a social commerce firm ― has also been recording positive cash flow since late last year with the firm achieving monthly net profit for the first time in May, Kim said.

“It’s my goal to create a commerce model here like Amazon in the U.S.,” he said.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)