[StartupRecipe] Factors Driving the Growth of the Secondhand Market

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#Weekly Funding Overview

[Feb. 20 ~ Feb. 24]

The total funds raised by Korean startups of this week is KRW 43.15 billion.

Company	Industry	Amount	Round	Investors
BM STAGE	Pettech	-		Kwangdong Pharmaceutical
Likenot	underware platform	-	Seed	CNTTech
Grow Corporation	Education	-	M&A	Class 101
Genecast	Bio/Healthcare	6 billion		Accessbio
Twoslashfour	Beuaty	-		Yoonmin Foundation, AmorePacific Group, We Ventures, TBT Partners, Mark & Company
Babygo	Kids platform	-	Bridge	Samsung Venture Investment, K-Bridge Investment, Newborn Venture
Croft	Smartfarm	-	Seed	Future Play
Connectbrick	Ai Vision	-	Seed	Korea Investment Accelerator
Cenacle	Digital Healthcare	4 billion	Series C	Naver Cloud
Mine.is	Secondhand Platform	4.15 billion	Seed	Goodwater Capital, CJ Logistics, SM Culture Partners, Angel investors
Thermolab	Clean package	3 billion	Series A2	Be High Investment, Hana Securities, KIBO
Reviewmaker	Influencer marketing	-	M&A	Eruda mareketing
AM Management	Finterch	-	Seed	Mashup Angels
Casenote	Legal tech	-	Seed	Korea Investment Accelerator
MARO STUDIO	Digital Content	-		Kidari studio
LBOX	Legal tech	2 billion	Series B	Samsung Venture Investment
Barofish	Foodtech	-		1billion partners
Bunkerkids	Healthcare	-	Series A	Series Ventures
ZConverter Cloud	Software	-	Series A	Samsung Venture Investment
Fluentt	3D Motion Capture	-	Seed	Korea Investment Accelerator
Standard Measurements and Characterization Lab	SPM-TERS Device	3 billion
ANIAI	Food robotics	4 billion	Seed	Capstone Partners, Lotte Ventures
Guhada	Luxury Fashion	8 billion	Series B	Korea Investment Partners, Woori Bank, DT & Investment, BM Ventures
Greenpakage solution	Clean package	2 billion		Korea Venture Investment
Fullleaf	Plant platform	-	Seed	Korea Investment Accelerator
Breeding	Pettech	-	Pre-Series A	Bluepointpartners, The Ventures
Brlab	Sleeptech	7 billion		Daol Investment, KB Securities, Insight Equity Partners, Tigris, Nau IB, Ajou IB Investment, Cosine Investment, BDC, Yugyung PSG

Major Funding

• Guhada, a luxury goods distribution platform, raised KRW 8 billion in funding, increasing its total investment to KRW 13.5 billion. With a distribution hub that links local European boutiques, domestic shopping malls, and luxury fashion commerce, Guhada generated KRW 11.1 billion in total revenue last year. The company signed API integration agreements with over 50 local boutiques and plans to achieve profitability with the investment.
• Bialab, a sleep tech company, secured KRW 7 billion in funding. Founded by a medical school and biosignal lab that studies sleep, its platform measures sleep data without equipment. In H1 2023, it plans to launch wellness products.
• Aniai, a robot kitchen startup, raised KRW 4 billion in seed investment. It successfully commercialized Alpha Grill, an AI robot that grills hamburger patties, cooking both sides in less than a minute based on the pre-entered temperature and thickness. The company plans to expand Alpha Grill and enter the US market with this investment.

#Trend Analysis

Factors Driving the Growth of the Secondhand Market

The second-hand marketplace is experiencing rapid growth worldwide, as evidenced by Naver’s recent acquisition of Poshmark, the world’s leading second-hand fashion platform, for a staggering 1.5 trillion won earlier this year. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, second-hand trading platforms have seen significant growth in 2021, thanks to the advantages of online transactions and consumers’ desire to purchase products at a lower cost. Several platforms, including Daangn Market, Korea’s leading second-hand platform, Cream, and BGZT, have achieved unicorn status or high valuations. Even Joongonara, a second-hand platform, was acquired by Lotte, causing the second-hand market to explode in 2021.

Changing consumer spending patterns have driven the growth of the second-hand market. As the pandemic has made online shopping more popular, consumers are seeking unique, affordable items, and young people are increasingly environmentally conscious and interested in sustainable living, prompting them to seek out second-hand goods. For young people with limited budgets, second-hand trading is also an attractive option. While fashion and luxury goods currently dominate the second-hand trading platform market, other types of platforms are emerging, such as those that trade vehicles and industrial materials.

Despite a waning investment market in 2022, early-stage investments dominated the market, and investors remain interested in second-hand trading platforms, as evidenced by Mineis, the operator of second-hand fashion service Charan, receiving KRW 4.15 billion in seed funding.

The thrift market is projected to continue growing, with a 2022 study by The Boston Consulting Group and resale service Vestiaire finding that Gen Z consumers are the most likely to buy (31%) and sell (44%) second-hand goods. This generation is not only the most active in buying secondhand goods, but they also participate in the circular economy by selling unused products or clothing to make money. This is one of the ways teens are using secondhand trading as a legitimate way to make money, contributing to market growth. The increasing number of environmentally conscious and sustainable consumers is also contributing to the growth of the second-hand market. Another advantage is the ability to expand to global markets such as Canada like Daangn Marketor operate both online and offline stores like Cream and BGZT.

For these reasons, investors are also interested in second-hand trading platforms with sustainable business models, and the high demand for second-hand trading platforms, which generates stable transaction volumes, is also an attractive investment factor, so second-hand trading platforms are expected to continue to grow.

Mineis	Second-hand fasion platform	4.15 billion	Seed	Goodwater Capital, CJ Logistics, SM Culture Partners, Angel investors
Upstairs	Second-hand phone platform	4.3 billion	SeriesA	IBK Venture Capital, E& Investment Partners, Partners Investment
Craving Collectors	Second-hand fasion platform	5.5 billion	Pre-series A	Kream
Turnback	Second-hand luxury platform	Undisclosed	Seed	Yoonmin Foundation, New Flight
Mr. Camel.	Second-hand luxury platform	1 billion	Pre-series A	KB Investment, Fast Ventures
Palm	Second-hand luxury platform	Undisclosed	SeriesA	IPS, Openwarter Investment
Endend Korea	Second-hand luxury platform	Undisclosed	Seed	The Ventures
Fruits Family	Second-hand fasion platform	Undisclosed	Pre-series A	Strong Ventures, KB Investment, Stone Bridge Ventures, Fast Ventures, Tekton Ventures
Dosty	Second-hand Digital device Platfom	Undisclosed	Seed	CNT Tech
Plav	Second-hand luxury platform	Undisclosed	Seed	Fast Ventures, Hashed
Koodon	Second-hand luxury platform	Undisclosed	–	CNT Tech
Market of Matereriel	Second-hand materiel platform	Undisclosed	Seed	Awesome Ventures, ETRI Holdings
Corner market	second-hand kids platform	Undisclosed	–	Joongonara
the handle	Second-hand car ecommerce	Undisclosed	Seed	Sparklab
Chexcar	Second-hand car ecommerce	Undisclosed	SeriesA	Kream, KB Securities, Lotte Ventures