[StartupRecipe] How the pet economy is growing in Korea

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Aug. 2~ Aug. 6]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 81.4 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
Jeongyookgak	Ecommerce	10 billion		Naver
Vlending	Music	-	M&A	Wpeer
Emmental	Fintech	6 billion	Series A	Naver, Naver Financial, Gorilla PE
Handhug	Ecommerce	2.5 billion	Series A	Platinum Technology Investment, Laguna Investment, Infinitum Partners, Seoul & Partners
Fanddle	Fan commerce	-	Seed	Korea technology finance corporation,Goldark
Open plan	Insurance	-	Seed	Korea Venture Investment
Edit collective	Contech	-		Hashed, Strong Ventures, Lotte Ventures
3boon1	Sleeptech	12 billion	Series A	Altos Ventures, DSC Investement, DelightRoom, Capstone Partners
Brandy	Ecommerce	20 billion		Naver
Soomvi	Drone	10 billion	Series B	Honest Ventures, ST Capital, Acurus Group, Moonchase, DA Value Investment, IBK, Brave New, Kiwoom Securities
Radpion	hardware	200 million	Seed	Info bank
Colvoground	Beauty	4.5 billion	Series A	TBT, Timefolio Asset Management, BNH Investment
Cox Space	hardware	-	Seed	Gyeongg CCEI
Persona	Data	-	M&A	Korea Credit Data
Elroilab	AI	-	Seed	CNTTech
Upstairs	Secondhand	2.8 billion		Partners Investment, ES Investor, L&S Venture Investment
Team blackbird	Blockchain	3.4 billion	Series A	Hashed, Interactive, Mirae Asset Capital, Youbi Capital
Medifutures	Healthcare	6 billion		DS Asset Management
Sankun	Contech	-	Seed	500startups
SGMA	Travel	-	Seed	CNTTech

Major Funding

• Commercial platform Brandy raised an additional 20 billion won from Naver. Naver invested 10 billion won in Brandy last year to revitalize Dongdaemun Fashion Cluster. Through this investment, Brandy plans to accelerate its entry into the Japanese market and expand its fulfillment center by 13,223 square meters.
• 3boon1 raised 12 billion won in investment. With this investment, it plans to enter global markets and expand its product line in sleep technology.
• Jeongyookgak, which distributes fresh meat, finalized 10 billion won in investmentfrom Naver and contributes to strengthening Naver’s competitiveness in distributing fresh food. The company supports meat sellers in Naver Smart Store.
• The collaboration ground of the beauty shop Total Solution Collaboration Salon raised 4.5 billion won in investment. The company provides SaaS for customer care, calendar, reservation management, and sales required for hair salons, nail shops, skincare salons, and pet beauty shops. The number of beauty shops subscribed has exceeded 100,000. The company will enter the global market with investment.
• Soomvi, which manufactures industrial drones such as life-saving drones, raised 10 billion won in investment. Investments will be used to develop PAV technologies to prepare for the growth of the UAM (Urban Air Mobility) market.

#Trend Analysis

The pet market is on the rise due to the increase in remote work from covid-19. Global pet sitter startup Rover became a $1 billion (KRW 1.1 trillion) company last week through the SPAC listing. In June, the parent company of Barkbox, a pet subscription service, was also listed.

The pet industry is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. As the time spent at home increases due to the worldwide pandemic, related industries are also growing explosively. According to the Association of Pet Industry (PAA), the pet market in the U.S. is expected to grow to $110 billion.

The pet market in Korea is not different. As the domestic market is expected to exceed 6 trillion won in 2027, pet startups are increasing, and the market is becoming more active as big conglomerates enter the market. Last month, PetFriends, the No. 1 pet shopping mall in Korea, was sold to private equity funds and GS Retail, which was the first major M&A in the field. Pet healthcare company Sticker Corporation was acquired by Hansol Inticube, bringing synergy between startups and big companies.

Pet Friends, FitPet, PetDoc are one of the most popular pet startups in Korea. These companies operate online shopping malls for pets, provide customized feed with experts such as veterinarians, and even provide customized health care management based on pet data. Interest in pet health is also increasing, and companies are increasingly providing total services that span the pet life cycle, focusing on e-commerce. As a result, pharmaceutical and bio companies are also expanding their scope into pet-related businesses.

• Pet Friends = No. 1 pet shopping mall, modeled after Chewy in Korea
• PetDark=Counseling from veterinarians, key service is providing customized pet food and supplies
• Fitpet=Provides healthcare solutions for all life cycles of pets

No company in Korea can be said to have dominated the pet market yet. Startups have grown the market, and large companies have entered the market, but global companies dominate the food sector where the most consumption takes place. For this reason, services that focus on pet health are expected to be more competitive than those that sell only food or products.