By Lee Hyo-sik
Coupang, Korea’s leading e-commerce site, has attracted a $1 billion investment from Softbank, Japan’s largest telecommunications and Internet company.
The company said Wednesday that it will spend the money on building more logistics centers and hiring more workers to expand its delivery services.
It said the latest investment attraction will help the company compete more effectively with Amazon, Alibaba and other multinational online firms.
In May last year, Coupang received a $100 million investment from U.S.-based Sequia Capital. In November, BlackRock also decided to inject $300 million into the company.
“We are extremely glad that Softbank, which is widely known as a long-term investor, decided to invest in us. This will further enhance our financial health,” Coupang CEO Kim Bom said. “Coupang will take advantage of the Japanese company’s global network and expertise in a wide range of sectors. Softbank will help us grow rapidly.”
The company plans to expand its logistics centers to 16 and boost its own delivery system to increase customer satisfaction.
“We will also invest to sell more goods through smartphones and advance our information technology knowhow by expanding research facilities in Silicon Valley,” Kim said.