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The company said Tuesday that it has raised $35 million in debt and $15 million in equity in a Series A round. The investment comes months after the startup raised $4.75 million in seed funding in August 2021 and $18 million in debt in November 2021, said Andrew Joo, co-founder of Wholesum. Wholesum, which currently has five Korean local brands, aims to acquire an additional 15-20 brands across lifestyle, health, children and pet categories this year.“The pandemic and maturing e-commerce platforms inspired the creation of 10,000 new independent brands per month in Korea,” said Joo. Wholesum says it doesn’t view the volume of acquisitions as its most important key performance indicator.“We acquire and scale brands; but at our core, we honor brand owners and their product achievements through post-acquisition organic growth and hope to inspire the next cycle of entrepreneurs seeking to transform their passion into a sustainable brand with the optionality to join Wholesum someday,” Joo said in the company’s statement.
