Korean online grocery startup Kurly raises USD 210 Mn in pre-IPO round

Kurly, a Korea-based online grocery startup has reportedly secured USD 210 million in a pre-IPO round, just six months after its Series F funding.

The latest round comprised only a single investor, Anchor Equity Partners, which is a Hong-Kong based private equity firm. This takes the total capital raised to date to USD 761 million, valuing the company at USD 3.3 billion.

The announcement comes along the heels of its local IPO, which will shift its listing location from the New York Stock Exchange. To encourage technological startups, the Korean Exchange has simplified listing standards for companies valued at over USD 854 million.

As per credible sources, the Seoul-based firm, which offers next-day grocery delivery will spend the proceeds on expanding its data infrastructure and logistics service, as well as for hiring new talent.

According to sources, Kurly anticipates the company to be valued at around USD 5.8 billion following the IPO. It intends to file an initial public offering application early next year, with the goal of going public in the first half of 2022.

For the record, when Kurly was founded in 2015, it was the first company in South Korea to serve premium food early morning the next day. The overnight delivery service was later adopted by local competitors. It now claims to have a total of 10 million users, with more than 2.4 million being monthly active users.

DST Global, Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital China, MiraeAsset Venture Investment, Aspex Management, and Korea-based strategic investors CJ Logistics and SK Networks were among the company’s previous backers.

Since its debut, Kurly's sales have increased by more than 100% and generated USD 845 million in sales, while recording a USD 97 million operating loss in 2020.

 

Source Credit:

https://techcrunch.com/2021/12/19/kurly-lands-210m-pre-ipo-at-a-3-3b-valuation-just-months-after-its-last-funding/