Naver Acquires Poshmark, North America's No.1 Secondhand Fashion Platform (Update)

Wagering 2.3 Trillion Won, a Stepping Stone to Entering Silicon Valley

Photo by Naver

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Naver announced on the 4th that it will acquire Poshmark, the largest secondhand fashion platform in North America. Naver valued Poshmark's enterprise value at $17.9 per share (25,760 KRW), with a net enterprise value of $1.2 billion (1.7268 trillion KRW). The acquisition amount is approximately 2.3441 trillion KRW, marking the largest big deal in Naver's history.

Poshmark is a representative peer-to-peer (C2C) platform in the United States that combines community services. Since its establishment in 2011, it has secured over 80 million users, holding a dominant number one position in the C2C sector.

Poshmark's biggest feature is that it is a C2C commerce platform that prominently incorporates social and community functions at the regional level. Buyers can configure regional feeds and followings by postal code, and by viewing the feeds of influencers and sellers they follow, they can discover items or posts that match their tastes. Additionally, the app offers a virtual shopping event feature called Posh Party, a live video format.

Naver's acquisition aims to proactively respond to the rapidly evolving global C2C market toward vertical platforms and secure long-term commerce competitiveness.

As vertical C2C markets related to fashion, limited editions, or luxury goods continue to emerge and grow mainly in Europe and North America, Naver is growing Cream domestically and Vintage City in Japan. In Europe, it has been making continuous investments, including investing in Vestiaire Collective.

Photo by Naver

Through this acquisition of Poshmark, Naver will establish a global portfolio connecting Korea, Japan, and Europe, with North America?the core of the C2C market?as its base.

The two companies plan to enhance synergy by linking with story and entertainment businesses centered on webtoons and Wattpad.

Additionally, Naver plans to discover new business models by utilizing its search, artificial intelligence (AI) recommendation and vision technologies, live commerce, community platforms, and advertising platforms.

Once the acquisition is completed, Poshmark will be incorporated as a subsidiary operating independently under Naver, with Poshmark’s management in North America, Australia, and India maintaining the same brand and business identity as they continue operations.

Choi Soo-yeon, CEO of Naver, stated, "By joining forces with Poshmark, the number one fashion C2C platform in North America, Naver has established an important foundation to better understand the North American MZ generation. As a Korean company in Silicon Valley, the global IT industry hub, we will continue to innovate and challenge ourselves, achieving a higher level of growth."

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