Goldman alum's grocery app seeking US$1b in South Korea IPO: sources

[SOUTH KOREA] Kurly, the maker of a Korean mobile app for delivering fresh groceries created by a former Goldman Sachs Group banker, is seeking to raise about US$1 billion in its initial public offering (IPO), people familiar with the matter said.

The Seoul-based company behind the Market Kurly app could be valued at about US$4 billion to US$6 billion in a listing, the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private.

Kurly aims to submit an application for preliminary approval to the Korea Exchange as soon as the first quarter, and could start trading on the Kospi this year, one of the people said.

Kurly has attracted a total of nearly 1 trillion won (S$1.1 billion) in private fundraising ahead of its IPO, one of the people said. Its backers include Millennium Management, Sequoia Capital China and Hillhouse Capital, according to a statement in July.

The startup is spending aggressively on hiring data scientists and engineers to analyse consumer and inventory data, one of the people said. A quarter of its 800 employees are engineers, including 40 data scientists, the person said.

Deliberations are ongoing and details such as size and valuation could change, the people said. A representative for Kurly declined to comment.

South Korea's IPO market saw 19.7 trillion won raised in 2021, according to the Financial Supervisory Service. It was the strongest year for debuts in the country in at least a decade, data compiled by Bloomberg show, amid a global surge in listings.

The world's largest IPO in the year to date took place in Seoul, when LG Energy Solution, a lithium-ion battery maker for electric vehicles, raised US$10.8 billion on the Kospi last month.

Founded in 2015 by Sophie Kim, who previously worked at Goldman and Bain Capital, Market Kurly lets shoppers order fresh vegetables, eggs and other perishable foods via its app. The company promises delivery before 7 am for orders made before 11 pm.

"Kurly has a clear strategy on premium fresh foods and wants to enter the non-food market," said Yu Jung-Hyun, an analyst at Daishin Securities in Seoul. Its rival in fresh food delivery, SoftBank Group-backed Coupang, is taking a different approach. "Kurly is increasing sales and prices at the same time, while Coupang is more focused on increasing the quantities only."

The company's listing plans come after global investors sold technology stocks in anticipation of rising rates and fears of increasing attention from regulators, with Coupang slumping 40 per cent since its IPO in March 2021.

In November, a top regulatory body in South Korea expressed concerns over the alleged "abuse of market dominance" of online retailers in the country.

Kurly is not like other startups seeking IPOs that have little meaningful business, said An Hyungjin, chief executive officer at Billionfold Asset Management, a Seoul-based hedge fund.

While investors were taken aback at the US$4 billion market value of K-pop agency Hybe when it debuted in 2020, An said, it has reached close to US$9 billion today. "Kurly can be like that if it keeps showing strong growth," An added. BLOOMBERG