APAC e-commerce aggregator, Una Brands, announced on 8th March that the company has committed 120 billion won (US$100 million) to South Korea’s ecommerce market across two years, through a strategic alliance with local counterpart, KlickBrands. This marks the first time Una Brands has entered a market with a domestic partner.
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The alliance seeks to combine Una Brands’ global cross-border network with KlickBrands’ understanding of the South Korean market. Together, they will grow local ecommerce brands domestically and into Southeast Asian markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand.
Una Brands and KlickBrands will invest up to US$100 million to partner with and scale at least 25 or more profitable ecommerce brands with revenues of up to US$50 million, across categories such as health, K-beauty, baby, pets, and home and living brands.
Una Brands has already established its presence in Singapore, Australia, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Taiwan in under a year, with South Korea being the next strategic market for the business’ bullish expansion.
South Korea was identified as a key market for the company, being the fifth-largest ecommerce market globally with an annual growth rate of around 14 percent and an expected market value of US$250 billion by 2025.
“Of all the local ecommerce aggregators, we chose KlickBrands as our strategic partner because of our shared vision, mission, and values. Their hands-on approach to working with the brands they acquire mirrors our own work ethic. This will make KlickBrands an instrumental partner in strengthening Una Brands’ presence in, and understanding of, the South Korean ecommerce landscape. In return, KlickBrands will benefit from our robust operational, technological, and acquisition capabilities,” commented Kiren Tanna, Co-founder & CEO of Una Brands.
Founded in 2021 by Brian Hyun and Jung Ho Joo, KlickBrands is focused on creating opportunities for brand owners to accelerate their growth across ecommerce platforms and markets.
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“Our partnership with Una Brands bears testament to the growing possibilities for ecommerce brands in South Korea. When Una Brands approached us, we immediately recognised that their capabilities were a great match for our own, particularly with the strong team that they have built, their expertise in ecommerce in APAC, and their global distribution network. We bring to the partnership local ecommerce expertise, as well as the understanding and empathy of local brand owners’ mindsets. We are very excited to have the backing of Una Brands as we continue to reach out to more brand owners in South Korea to support their next phase in expansion,” said Brian Hyun, Co-founder & CEO of KlickBrands.