Ohouse Secures New Investment of 230 Billion KRW

Korea Development Bank, IMM Investment, SoftBank Ventures, and Other Domestic and Foreign Investors Participate
"Growing Beyond an Interior Platform into a Technology-Based Lifestyle Company"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Bucketplace, the operator of 'Ohouse,' announced on the 9th that it has secured new investments worth 230 billion KRW. This round of investment was led by the Korea Development Bank, which invested 100 billion KRW, and included domestic investors such as IMM Investment, Mirae Asset Capital, KB Digital Platform Fund, Smilegate Investment, as well as global investors like SoftBank Ventures, BRV Capital Management, Temasek's venture investment subsidiary from Singapore's sovereign wealth fund, and Silicon Valley investment firm BOND (BOND), among others.

Bucketplace is a company that has moved the home furnishing and interior markets online through 'Ohouse,' covering sales of furniture, home appliances, and accessories. According to Statistics Korea, the domestic home furnishing market grew from approximately 73 trillion KRW in 2018 to about 89 trillion KRW last year. The interior remodeling market, as compiled by the Korea Construction Industry Research Institute, reached a scale of 30 trillion KRW in 2020. Ohouse's peak season monthly transaction volume is around 180 billion KRW, with one piece of furniture sold every 7 seconds. Recently, the company has expanded its business into various home-related service areas such as construction, installation and repair, and moving services. It also began its global market entry by acquiring Singapore's online furniture platform Hipvan last year.

Ohouse explained that it will start full-scale efforts toward its vision of becoming the "No.1 Lifestyle Tech Company" with this investment. Ohouse operates a development team composed of top technology professionals from Google, Amazon, Naver, Kakao, Line, and other leading domestic and international tech companies, and plans to significantly expand developer recruitment. It is accelerating various technological innovations, including service enhancement using machine learning and 3D/augmented reality (AR). Through technology investments, it also plans to innovate its logistics network and increase hiring in related personnel.

Lee Seung-jae, CEO of Bucketplace, said, "Ohouse will grow into a super app in the lifestyle sector that can solve everything related to homes beyond just interiors," adding, "With this investment, we will ensure that Ohouse's unique experience expands beyond Korea to the global market."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.