Online fashion platform Avely succeeded in attracting 67 billion won of investment. Avely is a platform where so-called 'Dongdaemun Fashion' is gathered, and is called the shopping mecca of the MZ generation.
Avely Corporation, which operates Avly, announced on the 27th that it had attracted 67 billion won of pre-series C investment. Existing investment institutions, LB Investment, SV Investment, Capstone Partners, Kolon Investment, and Intervest, participated in this investment, while Shinhan Financial Group SI Fund managed by Shinhan Capital newly participated.
This investment was made six months after attracting a 62 billion won Series B extension round investment in June last year. Avely has attracted a total of 173 billion won in investment since March 2018.
Avly plans to use the invested money to strengthen the Dongdaemun fashion market fulfillment (logistics integrated management) service, artificial intelligence (AI) preference recommendation service, and technology advancement.
Avly achieved 700 billion won in transaction value last year. This year's transaction amount is expected to exceed 1 trillion won, an increase of 84% compared to the previous year.
Shinhan Financial Group, who took the lead in this investment, said, “In the rapidly growing e-commerce market, we paid attention to Avely’s unique business strategy and technology, which specializes in style dealing with fashion, beauty, and life. We highly evaluated Avly’s overwhelming growth potential and global market expansion potential.”
Avly hired actress Kim Tae-ri as its first TV commercial model in March of last year. Since then, she has been working with actress Pyo Ye-jin to show off various versions of digital advertisements and aggressive marketing.
Seok-Hoon Kang, CEO of Avely, said, “We plan to expand our sales channels to the global market by advancing Avely’s personalized recommendation algorithm to establish itself as a leading style commerce platform that connects products that suit users’ tastes. And we will build a new concept of next commerce ecosystem where anyone can find their own style.”
On the other hand, the ransom of online platforms dealing with Dongdaemun fashion is increasing day by day. ZigZag, a fashion platform featuring actress Yoon Yeo-jeong as an advertising model, was acquired by Kakao Commerce in May of last year. ZigZag achieved 200 billion won in transaction volume in the first year of its launch in 2015 alone. ZigZag, in partnership with Kakao, surpassed 1 trillion won in transaction value for the first time last year, showing a fivefold growth in six years. Another online fashion platform, Brandy, recorded a transaction amount of 500 billion won during the same period. Brandy, which surpassed 70 billion won in monthly transactions in December of last year alone, is looking for a cumulative 1 trillion won this year.