Coupang, Korea’s Amazon, raises $300M in new funding

The U.S. has Amazon. China has Alibaba. And Korea’s got Coupang.

Coupang, a very large online retailer in Korea, announced today that it has raised $300 million in new funding to continue expanding its operations. That plan calls for growing its engineering and research and development teams in Silicon Valley, Seattle, and Seoul.

While it’s an extremely popular online retailer for shoppers, Coupang is also the largest online fulfillment operator in Korea, enabling same-day delivery, the company claims.

Unlike many large and very well-established online retailers, Coupang has taken a mobile-first approach. Currently, more than 70 percent of the company’s revenue comes from mobile, which also accounts for 80 percent of its web traffic. It has reached 19 million app downloads, about one in three consumers in Korea.

Coupang is currently operating at an annualized run rate of more than $2.2 billion, the company said in a statement.

BlackRock Private Equity Partners led the new round, with Wellington Management Company also participating. Coupang raised $100 million back in May in a round led by Sequoia Capital.

Bom Kim founded Coupang in 2010, and the company is based in Seoul. It has now raised $400 million to date.