[Aju News DB]
SEOUL -- South Korea's top e-commerce company Coupang received a $2.0 billion fresh investment from Softbank, a Tokyo-based holding group which runs Vision Fund, the world's largest technology fund. The investment eased concerns about a possible liquidity shortage caused by Coupang's aggressive expansion and rising costs.
Coupang founder Bom Kim (Kim Bom-sik) said the investment from Softbank, headed by its Korean-Japanese founder Masayoshi Son, would be used to innovate "our data, logistics, and payment platforms." "We will make our customers think more and more about how they have lived without Coupang."
Mimicking U.S.-based Amazon, Coupang has grown fast with slashed prices and swift "Rocket" deliveries since it started services in 2010. The company received a $1.0 billion investment from Softbank in 2015. Last year, sales rose 40.1 percent on-year to 2.68 trillion won ($2.38 billion), but Coupang posted an operating loss of 639 billion won.
reporter
Lim Chang-won
cwlim34@ajunews.com
