Major Korean search engine invests in online pet retailer AboutPet
Naver funded the pet company with KRW10 billion ($7.9M / €7.4M) to position it as the leading e-commerce retailer for pet products in the Asian country.
The investment of Naver, which has 18% of the search market in South Korea, will propel AboutPet to becoming a figure in the online channel while improving its customer service.
“The funding will be used to invest in IT and logistics infrastructure, with a focus on automating the logistics process,” declared AboutPet’s CEO Kim Kyung-hwan.
After this development, AboutPet is consolidating its partnership with Naver, as the two companies have worked together in the past on numerous occasions. Last year, they agreed to develop an online chat service which allows AboutPet users to consult vets.
Created in 2012, AboutPet is 57.3% owned by GS Retail, South Korea’s leading company in the modernization of the domestic retailing industry. In 2021, the company reported revenue of KRW26.1 billion ($20.3M / €19.3M), a dramatic increase of 123% compared to the previous year.