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A few decade in the past, Donghwan Kim helped his cousin, a ceramist, search for gross sales channels, like flea markets, to promote his ceramics. However that they had a tough time finding an appropriate platform, so after a couple of 12 months, Kim determined to create a market for handmade items himself in South Korea known as Backpackr.
As we speak, Backpackr, which operates handmade market known as idus, has raised a $16 million (20 billion received) extension to its Collection C financing, two-and-a-half years after its first Collection C, which was $24 million (about 30 billion received).
The startup is now valued at roughly $240.1 million post-money, in response to sources conversant in the scenario. Backpackr mentioned it has raised a complete of $56.8 million since its 2012 inception however declined to reveal its valuation. Returning investor Altos Ventures led the extension together with Stone Bridge and new buyers Axiom Asia and Vanderbilt College.
The brand new capital will assist Backpackr make a foray into Southeast Asia, together with Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines, within the second quarter of this 12 months with an ambition to develop into the Etsy of Asia, Kim mentioned in an interview with TechCrunch. Backpackr additionally plans to make use of the proceeds to put money into R&D to advance its synthetic intelligence–powered search and advice system, in addition to rent further staff.
The startup intends to promote merchandise made in South Korea abroad and produce handmade merchandise made in Southeast Asia to South Korea by way of its platform. Different nations like Japan and the U.S. are on its radar for the next locations, in response to Kim. Backpackr must compete with different handmade marketplaces in Asia like Japan-based Minne and Creema, Taiwan-based Pinkoi and Singapore-headquartered Carousell. The market dimension of Asia’s handmade merchandise is projected to succeed in $307.8 billion in 2027, up from $149 billion in 2021.
The corporate not solely has idus as a main enterprise but additionally operates a crowdfunding platform known as Tumblbug which it acquired in 2020. Backpackr additionally has launched a Patreon-like creator subscription service, Steadio, to attach artists with their followers, Kim mentioned. Backpackr’s mannequin is to purpose for a one-stop-shop platform for its creators, which is the corporate’s key differentiator, Kim identified.
“We need to make it a one-stop-shop platform for creators, letting our customers (creators) open their very own web boutiques promoting their craftworks, together with handicrafts and something home made like bakery, cleaning soap, candles, jewellery, fragrances, luggage, furnishings, residence decor and artwork, assist them crowdfund for his or her merchandise and join the creators with followers to supply on-line or offline courses,” Kim advised TechCrunch.
Backpackr, which had about 60,000 creators as of November final 12 months, says it surpassed $804 million in gross merchandise quantity in November and handed a break-even level within the second half of final 12 months, although it nonetheless posted loss-making within the fiscal 12 months of 2022. The outfit expects to generate income this 12 months, Kim mentioned.
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