KKR leads $190 mn Series C funding of fashion platform Musinsa

South Korea’s leading fashion platform Musinsa said on Wednesday it has attracted 240 billion won ($189.7 million) in its Series C funding round from a consortium led by global private equity giant KKR & Co. Inc., with participation from US investment firm Wellington Management Co. 

The funding marks KKR’s first technology growth investment in Korea as part of its Asia Next Generation Technology strategy, which supports the growth of innovative companies, Musinsa said.

Through the fundraiser, Musinsa’s value has reached the mid-3 trillion won range. The fashion platform completed 130 billion won in Series B funding in 2021 and 100 billion won in Series A in 2019.

Musinsa was launched in 2001 as an online community for sharing photos of shoes. It has matured into a fashion marketplace with more than 8,000 designer brands and an in-house brand, Musinsa Standard.

It also operates the fashion startup accelerator Musinsa Partners and offline lounge Musinsa Terrace, a multicultural space that includes physical stores for online fashion companies and restaurants.

Musinsa said it plans to use the proceeds to strengthen its profitability, secure the intellectual property of overseas fashion brands that haven't yet entered the Korean market and invest in promising designer brands.

The platform will also expand its existing pop-up stores in the Seongsu, Hannam and Hongdae areas in Seoul, while opening more Musinsa Standard stores and boutiques in Daegu and Busan.

The company posted 708.3 billion won in revenue on a consolidated basis in 2022, up 53.6% on-year. Its operating profit plummeted 94.6% on-year to 3.2 billion won, and net losses reached 55.8 billion won last year.

Its subsidiary SLDT Co., which operates the resale platform SoldOut, posted 42.7 billion won in operating losses, which affected the parent company’s profits.

SoldOut, which resells limited-edition sneakers, clothes and hats, was launched in 2020 and grew its user base by waiving all delivery and transaction fees until July of last year. As a result, transactions in SoldOut leaped more than 2.7-fold last year compared with 2021.

Write to Kyeong-Je Han at hankyung@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.