Coupang, a leading social commerce company in Korea, announced on Thursday it raised $100 million from Sequoia, a California-based venture capital firm.
It is the first time Sequoia has injected funds to a Korean company, Coupang added, claiming that Sequoia’s investment decision reflects the U.S. investor’s high interest in the nation’s fast growing e-commerce market.
“Most of all, top management of Sequoia was impressed with Coupang’s world-class shopping experiences offered to customers through online and mobile,” the company said in a press release.
With new funds, the e-commerce giant will sets more sights on fast growing mobile purchases, industry watchers said.
Coupang, launched in 2010 when a social commerce boom made a stir in the Korean retail sector, grew as one of Korea’s top two social commerce firms in 2013. Its annual gross merchandise volume exceeded $1 billion last year.
Coupang also reportedly has an initial public offering plan in the near future, which makes it more attractive to foreign venture capital firms, including Sequoia.
Coupang has raised $160 million in funding to date. Previous investors include Greenoaks Capital Management, Rose Park’s Disruptive Innovation Fund, and LaunchTime.
(
jyseo@heraldcorp.com)
