Series C startup Wefun eyes 2025 IPO in S.Korea

Wefun, a Seoul-based startup operating an office maintenance, repair and operation (MRO) platform, plans to go public next year after successfully raising about 20 billion won ($15 million) in a Series C funding round last year at a valuation of 110 billion won.

The company announced on Tuesday that it has picked Hana Securities Co. as the lead underwriter of its initial public offering planned on Korea’s junior stock bourse Kosdaq in the latter half of 2025.

It did not disclose how much it plans to raise from its IPO.

Wefun completed Series C funding in July last year after raising 20 billion won at a valuation of 110 billion won. It has raised 35 billion won in total since its inception in 2018, according to the company.

It is backed by 10 investors, including Hana Bank, NongHyup Bank and NICE Investment Partners.

KOREAN CONGLOMERATES ARE WEFUN CUSTOMERS 

Wefun operates a business-to-business platform offering a wide range of MRO services, including but not limited to the upkeep of the office.

Its strength lies in services that procure and distribute snacks and beverages including coffee for offices. It also offers catering services. 

It took only five years since its foundation to secure about 7,000 office customers in Korea, including large conglomerates like LG Electronics Inc. and Hyundai Motor Co.  

The company reaped 76 billion won in revenue in 2023, meaning its sales increased at a compound annual growth rate of 121% over the past five years.

The company also swung to profit last year.

Wefun projects that its annual revenue will surpass 180 billion won this year as it is seeking to expand its services beyond B2B to add more business-to-employee (B2E) services.

Earlier this year, the startup acquired Woolin, the leading local distributor and wholesaler of food products and medicines for small grocery stores across Korea.

With Woolin, Wefun will enhance its nationwide fulfillment center network to ensure a more stable supply of office canteen products and supplies.

Wefun operates about 100 different services, mainly subscription-based services, including Snack24, Coffee24, Breakfast24 and Gift24 on its platform.

Write to Joo-Wan Kim at kjwan@hankyung.com


Sookyung Seo edited this article.