SEOUL, South Korea--(BUSINESS WIRE)--#BrandAccelerator--Wholesum Co., Ltd. is the first Korea-based e-commerce brand accelerator to discover, acquire, and scale promising online-native brands.

Over USD10B has been raised globally since 2018 by over 60 start-ups who focus on aggregating Amazon FBA brands. Unlike global players, Wholesum�s differentiated strategy focuses on brands that thrive on Korean e-commerce marketplaces, led by Naver Smartstore and Coupang, which boast the 3rd largest annual GMV in the world, estimated at USD180B in 2021, and collectively host over 470,000 independent micro-brands.

Co-Founders Kyungbeom Ham, e-commerce, product, and supply-chain expert, and AJ Vincent, a global private equity and operations executive, founded Wholesum to address problems faced by a growing number of entrepreneurs who have achieved US$1 million in annual e-commerce sales.

�Wholesum prepares to speak with or meet dozens of entrepreneurs every week by researching their product, analyzing their competition, and understanding their journey,� Vincent noted. With SEMAS reporting that 70% of businesses close down in Korea due to a number of challenges related to financing and scalability, Vincent added, �Our value proposition is to offer a �sale vs. scale� alternative solution to support promising brands where short-term capital, marketing knowledge, and tech constraints may have limited the brand�s long-term potential under the original entrepreneur.�

With Seed Round capital led by Nordstar (UK), Korean VCs Bass Investment and The Ventures, and strategic Angel investors in August 2021, Wholesum acquired two brands in the Health & Living category and plans to deploy over USD23M of equity and new venture financing to execute on a deep pipeline. A tech-enabled, data-driven, and disciplined approach to due diligence has been core to Wholesum�s brand discovery and acquisition process; while creative marketing, supply chain optimization, and KPI tracking have been critical for scaling the brand post-acquisition.

�Korea�s clustered geography means Wholesum can meet any entrepreneur face-to-face, pull historical financial data, or conduct in-person diligence of manufacturing, fulfillment, and delivery facilities within three hours of first contact,� said Ham. �The supply chain infrastructure supporting Korean e-commerce is well-integrated and the multi-channel marketplace ecosystem allows new brands to quickly come to market and scale.� Vincent added, �It�s an opportunity to move away from legacy, R&D-intensive, brand-scaling strategies, and re-invent the way we build a sustainable, long-term business through discovery, acquisitions, and sharing proven local brands to a global audience. Ultimately, Wholesum wants to be the No. 1 preferred digital brand platform, trusted by current and future brand entrepreneurs.�

Nordstar�s Managing Partner, Ole Ruch, noted, �We find the Korean e-commerce opportunity to be one of the most compelling in the world, and have been incredibly impressed by The Founding Team. Their joint vision and complementary backgrounds from e-commerce, operations, supply chain and private equity will be key in building the premier growth and ownership platform for digital brands in Korea.�

Contacts

For Wholesum Co., Ltd.

Link Communications

Andy Jung

+822-322-0907

[email protected]