Musinsa to invest W14b in fashion startups within this year

Online fashion retailer Musinsa said Tuesday it would invest a further 14 billion won in fashion startups through its venture capital Musinsa Partners to bring the total investment to 60 billion won within this year.

Established in 2018, Musinsa Partners is a joint venture capital firm that has invested some 46 billion won in medium- and small-sized enterprises and startups in the fashion industry.

The latest announcement is part of the company’s drive to boost the fashion industry, including multiple brands ranging from casual and sportswear to womenswear as well as the fashion tech industry.

The companies that have received funding from Musinsa Partners are now estimated to be worth over 1.16 trillion won in total, according to Musinsa, which amounts to an average of 93 percent increase in value compared to the early stages of funding.

“It is our goal to help fashion companies build competitiveness when they have potential but face difficulties due to a lack of management expertise,” one Musinsa Partners official said.

“We plan to actively invest in fashion brands in various categories and fashion IT companies to grow together,” the official said.

Marking its fourth year, the venture capital firm runs five funds including the M&F fashion fund and AP&M beauty fashion fund.

To protect the identity of a brand and encourage mutual growth, Musinsa makes an investment without affecting management rights, the company said.

Fashion brand Coor is among the brands that have received support for management support infrastructure. Internal staff were sent by Musinsa Partners to help establish a finance and accounting system at Coor, which the company said was essential to its growth.

“With our rapid growth, it was difficult to focus on building infrastructure in finance and accounting. Thanks to Musinsa Partners, however, we have a stable management support system that we are currently building on,” one official at Coor said.

By Yim Hyun-su (hyunsu@heraldcorp.com)