S.Korean fashion platform Ably attracts $39 mn before Series C round

South Korea’s Ably Corp., operator of the fashion shopping app Ably, has attracted 50 billion won ($39 million) via venture debt amid the slowdown of venture capital funding in the country.

The company said on Thursday that local private equity firm Pinetree Asset Management has invested the amount with a valuation of 900 billion won. Founded in 2015, Ably has drawn 223 billion won in investments so far.   

Ably said the attraction of 50 billion won exceeded the company's initial target, thanks to its high valuation on four major points: business growth; customized service to users such as artificial intelligence-powered recommendations; potential of global business expansion; and the company's management including CEO Kang Seok-hoon, who co-founded Korean over-the-top platform Watcha Inc.

Venture debt, with warrants that give holders the option to purchase the company’s stock at a specified price within a specific period, is not common in the Korean venture capital scene.

Local logistics service provider Mesh Korea Co. also attracted 36 billion won via venture debt, which was collateralized with equity held by Founder Yoo Jung-beom and Chief Technology Officer Kim Hyung-sul last year. But the company couldn’t pay off the loan and was taken over by Korean beverage and dairy products maker hy Co. in February. 

Ably said it won’t follow in Mesh’s footsteps. “The transaction on our fashion shopping platform exceeds 1 trillion per year, and we have built a robust business model whereby total costs meet total revenue for ample liquidity,” it added.

The shopping platform operator boasts 7 million monthly active users (MAU), competing with top e-commerce companies such as 11Street Co.

Ably is set to proceed with a Series C funding round this year. Last year, the company received 50 billion won in a pre-series C funding round with a corporate value of 900 billion won, which remains the same.

The shopping app, focusing on women’s clothes, started its service as a platform for social media influencers’ fashion choices and selling the items. 

It offers recommendation services to users based on their preferences, as well as helps entrepreneurs, both experienced and inexperienced in the fashion industry, easily set up their businesses on the app. 

Write to Jong-Woo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com

Jihyun Kim edited this article