Lotte, Shinsegae considering investing in Fresheasy Meal kit company has raised more than $87 mil from Seed to Series C rounds
Translated by Kim So-in 공개 2021-07-09 07:32:37
이 기사는 2021년 07월 09일 07:30 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.
South Korea’s retail giants show strong interest in Fresheasy, the largest meal kit company in the country with a market share of 70%, amid soaring demand for meal kits after the outbreak of Covid-19.Lotte Group and Shinsegae Group are weighing whether to invest in Fresheasy, industry sources said Wednesday. They are reportedly considering investing as much as 40 billion won ($34.9 million) through their venture capital arms, Lotte Ventures and Signite Partners.
Fresheasy has proved is competitiveness in the home meal replacement (HMR) market as it has secured strong distribution channels including Lotte ON, SSG.com, Coupang and home shopping companies.
Fresheasy has raised more than 100 billion won so far from Seed to Series C funding rounds. The company signed an original development manufacturing contract with dairy products company HY thanks to strong growth potential of the HMR market in 2017. Many financial investors including NAU IB Capital, Timewise Investment, and a consortium of Shinhan Investment Corp and Cognitive Investment put 10 billion won in a Series A funding round.
In 2018, the company raised 2 billion won from Union Investment Partners and around 30 billion won from Hana Financial Investment Private Equity (PE) and GS Home Shopping in early 2019 in a Series B funding round.
Later in the year, Fresheasy raised 50 billion won from nine investors including SoftBank Ventures Asia, NAU IB Capital, NongHyup Bank, NH Investment & Securities, SBI Investment, Union Investment Partners, Industrial Bank of Korea, Korea Investment & Securities and GS Home Shopping in a Series C funding round. The proceeds were used to build a new plant in Yongin, Gyeonggi province.
The South Korean HMR market is expected to continue to grow this year amid the prolonged pandemic. Shipments of HMR products have grown at an annual growth rate of about 14% in recent years thanks to growing demand and increasing overseas sales, according to data from Korea Trade Statistics Promotion Institute. As of September 2020, exports of processed foods amounted to $3.8 billion, up 12.7% year-on-year.
Fresheasy’s revenue has grown exponentially in recent years. Its revenue grew nearly sixfold from 21.8 billion won in 2018 to 127.1 billion won in 2020.
The company is set to raise 250 billion won to 300 billion won from Praxis Capital. The PE firm plans to acquire shares owned by existing financial investors and new shares issued by Fresheasy. (Reporting by Seon-young Kim)
< 저작권자 ⓒ 자본시장 미디어 'thebell', 무단 전재, 재배포 및 AI학습 이용 금지 >
관련기사
best clicks
최신뉴스 in 전체기사
-
- 우리금융 "롯데손보 M&A, 과도한 가격 부담 안한다"
- 신한캐피탈, 지속성장 포트폴리오 리밸런싱 체계 강화
- 하나금융, ELS 악재에도 실적 선방…확고한 수익 기반
- 하나금융, 자본비율 하락에도 주주환원 강화 의지
- 국민연금, '역대 최대 1.5조' 출자사업 닻 올렸다
- [도전 직면한 하이브 멀티레이블]하이브, 강한 자율성 보장 '양날의 검' 됐나
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]꺾여버린 기세에…포스코홀딩스, '자사주 소각' 카드 재소환
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]LG엔솔 예견된 실적·주가 하락, 비용 절감 '집중'
- [퍼포먼스&스톡]포스코인터, 컨센서스 웃돌았지만 주가는 '주춤'
- 신한금융, ‘리딩금융’ 재탈환에 주주환원 강화 자신감