South Korean online shopping platform Queenit receives $43 million in funding

Online shopping platform Queenit recently received 36 billion won (US$30 million) in funding from Kakao Ventures Corp., SoftBank Ventures Korea Corp. and others, according to industry insiders .

Queenit is a shopping platform for women in their 40s and 50s. In just 16 months after its launch, it has received a cumulative investment of 51.5 million won , and its enterprise value is estimated to be about 200 billion won. It is understood that Queenit - a startup company is in a leading position in the fashion blue ocean for women in their 40s and 50s .

In terms of investment companies, Kakao Ventures Corp. is an independent subsidiary of Kakao Corp., while SoftBank Ventures Korea Corp. is the venture capital arm of Japanese conglomerate Softbank Group Corp. in South Korea.

The venture capital firms’ rationale for the investment appears to be that while general e-commerce platforms are saturated, with Coupang and Naver Shopping dominating the market, there are still relatively few shopping platforms specifically catering to women over 40.

Other online shopping sites targeting the same demographic include ZigZag’s Posty and For Me, but activity on their sites is minuscule compared to Queen It, a dedicated shopping platform that has become one of the top five online shopping services in South Korea.

Meanwhile, its popularity grew exponentially last year, when its average monthly sales figure was 10 billion won. According to app research agency Mobile Index, Queen It app is second only to the extremely popular Ably Corp., Musinsa Co., ZigZag operated by Kakao Corp. and Brandi Inc.

It is reported that Korean women in their 40s and 50s are the main customer base for department store fashion and have chosen online shopping in recent years. There are more than 700 brands on Queen It, including those of department stores. The platform does not exclude millennials.

Brands that are not as popular in physical stores, such as Benetton, can also be found on the app.

Queenit expects to expand its sales categories to include accessories, outdoor apparel and beauty.

There are more and more e-commerce platforms, and the more mature ones have already secured their positions. Latecomers may be able to adopt fierce differentiation and transformation strategies to get a quick start. Deepening vertical market development is suitable for both large sellers and small sellers.

South Korea

E-commerce platform

Vertical Category Development