[ad_1]
About a decade in the past, Donghwan Kim helped his cousin, a ceramist, search for gross sales channels, like flea markets, to promote his ceramics. But they’d 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 referred to as Backpackr.
Today, Backpackr, which operates handmade market referred to as idus, has raised a $16 million (20 billion gained) extension to its Series C financing, two-and-a-half years after its first Series C, which was $24 million (about 30 billion gained).
The startup is now valued at roughly $240.1 million post-money, in line with sources accustomed to the state of affairs. 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 University.
The 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 turn out to be 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 suggestion system, in addition to rent extra workers.
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. Other nations like Japan and the U.S. are on its radar for the next locations, in line with 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 achieve $307.8 billion in 2027, up from $149 billion in 2021.
The firm not solely has idus as a major enterprise but additionally operates a crowdfunding platform referred to 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 want to make it a one-stop-shop platform for creators, letting our users (creators) open their own internet boutiques selling their craftworks, including handicrafts and anything homemade like bakery, soap, candles, jewelry, fragrances, bags, furniture, home decor and art, help them crowdfund for their products and connect the creators with fans to offer online or offline classes,” 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.