To Repeat Success of Coupang
An increasing number of South Korean companies are aiming to repeat the success of Coupang after it made a successful debut on the New York Stock Exchange in March this year.
SoftBank chairman Masayoshi Son is increasing his investment in South Korean startups after his successful investment in Coupang. For example, he invested US$160 million in Iyuno Media Group in April, US$175 million in Riiid in May, and two trillion won in Yanolja this month.
SoftBank invested a total of US$2.7 billion in Coupang before it went public. Immediately after its listing, the value of its shares in the company jumped 10-fold. According to the Wall Street Journal, the listing of Coupang was a turning point and more than 10 South Korean unicorns in various fields such as biotech and car sharing have been in the spotlight since then.
Those unicorns are preparing to go public to fully utilize the opportunity created by Coupang. For instance, Krafton’s IPO in South Korea is scheduled for next month and KakaoPay is scheduled to go public in the second half of this year.