Danggeun Market, S Korea’s Online Marketplace for Used Items, Raises US33.49m

Danggeun Market, a South Korean online marketplace for secondhand items, has raised W40 billion (US$33.49 million) in its latest funding round, which was co-anchored by Altos Ventures and Goodwater Capital.

In a statement Monday, the startup said the recent fundraising was also backed by existing investors Kakao Ventures, SoftBank Ventures, Capstone Ventures, and Strong Ventures.

The US$33.59 million fundraise brings the company’s total funding to date to W48 billion or about US$53.3 million. It first raised W1.3 billion in its Kakao Ventures-led Series A in 2016. SoftBank Ventures also led Danggeun Market’s W6.8 billion Series B last year.

[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”reg” ihc_mb_template=”1″ ]

Founded in 2015, Danggeun Market connects buyers and sellers of secondhand items based on their locations. Since its inception, the app has been downloaded more than 8 million times with monthly active users reaching three million as of the end of August.

On average, the monthly transactions made on the Danggeun Market platform reach W42 billion, the company said.

Danggeun Market co-founder Kim Yong-hyun said the fresh funding will help the startup expand its services and models beyond the secondhand marketplace. Kim said the company wants to become a local community lifestyle platform.

In the secondhand ecommerce space, Danggeun Market competes with Carousell, an online marketplace that allows users to buy and sell clothes, books, furniture, bikes, and beauty products.

It also competes with Letgo, a mobile-based marketplace that allows users to buy and sell used clothing, gadgets, and accessories.

Oh Moon-suk, principal at Altos Ventures, one of the lead investors of the startup’s latest funding round, said the Danggeun Market team is completely devoted to user convenience.

In the ecommerce space, Coupang continues to be South Korea’s largest ecommerce player, after raising an additional US$2 billion investment from SoftBank in November 2018.

The country’s ecommerce market has expanded to US$717 billion last year, according to Euromonitor International. South Korea, currently the fifth-largest ecommerce market in the world, is expected to become the third-largest in five years, trailing only China and the US.

[/ihc-hide-content]