South Korean online fashion platform Musinsa announced it has inked USD 190 million in a Series C funding round lead by global investment firm KKR, with participation from Wellington Management.
SEE ALSO: Musinsa: Online shop creates offline opportunities
The funding round is the fashion platform’s third fundraise since its inception in 2001, and follows its successful KRW 130 billion (USD 120 million) Series B round in 2021, and KRW 100 billion (USD 79 million) Series A round in 2019.
“We are delighted to welcome global investors of KKR and Wellington’s caliber, which we see as a recognition of the quality of Musinsa’s platform, and the potential of the Korean online fashion market,” said Munil Han, CEO of Musinsa.
‘With this latest investment, Musinsa looks to continue scaling our platform and creating new standards of success in the online and offline markets with domestic and foreign brands.”
Founded twelve years ago as an online sneaker community, Musinsa has grown to become an online fashion marketplace that features more than 8,000 local Korean and foreign designer brands and an in-house brand, called Musinsa Standard.
Since its inception, Musinsa has expanded to include communities, a brand incubator called Musinsa Partners, a direct-to-consumer brand operator, and an offline multicultural lounge called Musinsa Terrace, that allows for offline interactions with its customers and provides online-based fashion brands with a physical space for pop-up stores.
“Musinsa has developed itself as a top consumer Internet platform in Korea and a differentiated marketplace by its ability to scale rising brands, enable the creator economy for fashion, engage and provide a high-quality e-commerce experience for customers,” said Mukul Chawla, partner and head of growth equity, Asia Pacific for KKR.
“We see enormous opportunity for Musinsa to build on its leading position in a fast-growing K-fashion market that continues to shift online and expand globally on the back of K-culture’s explosive reach. We are excited to partner with the management team and look to leverage KKR’s global network, operational expertise, and deep technology experience to take Musinsa to its next phase of growth.”
The investment in Musinsa marks KKR’s first technology growth investment in Korea as part of its Asia Next Generation Technology strategy, which seeks to support the growth of innovative companies in Asia Pacific across software, consumer technology and fintech.