April 23, 2024

• 

A logo of NextChapter (KlimVentures)

NextChapter, a South Korean startup designed to acquire small online native brands active on ecommerce platforms including Coupang, has raised a seed round equity funding to scale up its business largely inspired by a success of US unicorn Thrasio.

Joining the round were domestic venture capital houses Klim Ventures and Fast Ventures, as well as foreign VCs BlueRun Ventures and Goodwater Capital. The amount of equity funding remains to be undisclosed.

NextChapter said the company will use the proceeds to acquire more online native brands within this year and secure economies of scale.

NextChapter aims to replicate the achievement by Thrasio, an e-commerce aggregator that has acquired more than 100 native brands active on Amazon’s fulfillment network. Likewise, NextChapter looks to acquire private label brands operating on Korean e-commerce platforms such as Coupang and Naver’s Smartstore.

“Here in Korea, there are a large number of online native brands selling consumer-favorite products with tremendous growth opportunities but fail to scale up due to operational burdens and growing capital needs,” NextChapter said in a statement.

NextChapter was founded earlier this year and is composed of those with professional backgrounds in private equity and consulting.

By Son Ji-hyoung (consnow@heraldcorp.com)