Industry landscapes
Get Pro
Industry report

Funding and advertised pay are reported in USD; filed accounts retain their stated source currency and basis.

Exchange-rate basis

Indicative conversions use ECB reference rates dated 2026-09-14, applied consistently across all periods. They are not historical exchange rates. Indian rupees may use crore (1 crore = 10 million); other currencies use K, M and B. CSV downloads, source documents and quoted news headlines retain their original currencies.

THE SOUTH KOREA EDITION 2026

South Korea’s
retail industry,
in focus.

The companies, capital and talent shaping retail in South Korea. Find the leaders. Understand the segments. See where the activity is.

Explore in Radar Read the key signals
Snapshot: Funding in USD
Illustrated cover for Retail Industry Landscape of South Korea
KR
COMPANIES · CAPITAL · TALENT

An industry ecosystem,
measured in context.

Retail illustration
Companies tracked 2,449Retail ecosystem in South Korea Disclosed funding $7.91B110 companies · all recorded rounds Companies hiring 21With open roles at the snapshot Tracked open roles 314 employers posted in the preceding 30 days
MEET THE COMPANIES

Explore South Korea’s retail leaders

24 featured companies from the funding, hiring, revenue and team-size leaderboards.

Expand panel +
Explore the full landscape
Retail company highlights in South Korea, snapshot 6 August 2026
Company
Coupangcoupang.com$4.17B—63,000Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Tmontmon.co.kr$523.51M———
Musinsaglobal.musinsa.com$473.73M—1,524—
KREAMkream.co.kr$447.79M—100—
Trenbetrenbe.com$270.07M—66—
Bucket Placebucketplace.com$252M2 roles—Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Karrotkarrotmarket.com$201.37M———
Korea Credit Datakcd.co.kr$136.52M—91—
Alwayzalwayz.co—3 roles28—
Haruharuharuharu.com—3 roles——
StyleKoreanstylekorean.com—3 roles170—
Connectlyconnectly.co.kr—2 roles4—
Daebakdaebak.co—2 roles24—
Serveoneserveone.co.kr—2 roles1,300—
Dongledong-gle.co.kr—1 roles——
CLO Virtual Fashionclo3d.com——170Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
GS Retailgsretail.com——7,814Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Grand Department Storegranddept.co.kr——180—
Homeplus Co.homeplus.co.kr——23,000—
LG Household & Health Carelghnh.com——10,700Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
Lotte Duty Freeeng.lottedfs.com————
Lotte Shoppinglotteon.com————
OLIVE YOUNGglobal.oliveyoung.com——264—
Shinsegaeshinsegae.co.kr———Financial figure available in RadarView in Radar
24 featured companies

Locked revenue figures are available in Radar; the eight company financial previews stay the same throughout this page. A dash means the figure is outside these featured lists. Revenue years vary by company; the figures are not a like-for-like revenue comparison. Compare annual accounts ↗

Company discovery

Recorded evidence only
THE KEY SIGNALS

Retail industry KPIs in South Korea

A few useful ratios bring the size of this ecosystem into perspective.

6 August 2026
Hiring participation0.9%

21 of 2,449 tracked companies have open roles.

Funding participation7.1%

173 of 2,449 tracked companies have a recorded round.

Top 3 funding share65.3%

Share of disclosed capital received by the three largest recorded recipients.

Median disclosed round$5.62M

Midpoint of 158 rounds with a disclosed amount.

Scale is concentrated. Opportunity is broader. The three largest funding recipients hold 65.3% of disclosed capital, while 92.9% of tracked companies have no recorded funding round.

Explore the segments →
CAPITAL & COMPANY FORMATION

How South Korea retail has grown

Recorded company formation and disclosed funding across the complete annual series shown.

Expand panel +
2016 — 2025

Disclosed funding by year

Sum of recorded funding rounds · USD

South Korea retail
$0$714.92M$1.43B$2.14B$2.86B2016: $82.52M20162017: $417.92M20172018: $2.51B20182019: $316.28M20192020: $636.78M20202021: $506.88M20212022: $1.08B20222023: $607.24M20232024: $142.06M20242025: $70.76M2025
View the numbers
Annual retail funding and company formation in South Korea
YearFunding (USD)FoundedRaising
2016$82.52M1579
2017$417.92M17811
2018$2.51B1718
2019$316.28M20213
2020$636.78M21820
2021$506.88M19416
2022$1.08B9230
2023$607.24M5322
2024$142.06M529
2025$70.76M610
WHERE CAPITAL SITS

Funding concentration

Share of all disclosed company funding.

  • Coupang52.7%
  • Tmon6.6%
  • Musinsa6.0%
  • Other companies34.7%

Funding by stage

260 recorded rounds since 2016

NUMBER OF ROUNDS
Seed & Angel115 44.2%
Series A–B104 40.0%
Series C+ / PE36 13.8%
Grants, debt & other5 1.9%

Recent recorded rounds

Latest recorded rounds · USD
7 rounds

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series A04/2026
Brandazine $6.31M

Backed by DNX Ventures and Coupang.

Series B03/2026
Athler $6.69M

Backed by Company K Partners and Laguna Investment and others.

Seed03/2026
Used Nara —

Backed by Eugene Investment & Securities.

Seed02/2026
LeHosah $829.97K

Backed by Tech Incubator Program for Startup.

Largest and notable recorded rounds

Each card is one recorded round
10 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Series D09/2020
Tmontmon.co.kr$336.51M

Participating investors were not recorded in this snapshot.

Series D08/2022
Trenbetrenbe.com$259.26M

Backed by IMM Investment and Atinum Investment and others.

Series C03/2023
KREAMkream.co.kr$168M

Backed by Altos Ventures Management and Mirae Asset and others.

THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE ACTIVITY

Revenue, profitability & financial strength

Expand panel +

Annual accounts availability

No reviewed exact national-ID connector maps South Korea company identities to the configured global filings table.

DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

Web traffic, app reach and release cadence

How the South Korea companies on this page show up online: the sites people visit, the apps they install, and how often those apps ship.

Busiest websites

83 of the 2,449 companies on this page carry a measured traffic record (3.4%); these are the largest of those, by monthly visits. The median among them is 183,259 visits.

CompanyMonthly visitsAuthorityMobile
Coupangcoupang.com239,730,0657984.3%
Gmarket(eBay Korea)gmarket.co.kr50,943,7086786.3%
Lotte Shoppinglotteon.com14,766,7735285.5%
Danawadanawa.com13,615,6166548.5%
Today\'s Houseohou.se12,681,0206384.4%
Cafe 24cafe24.com8,886,3284453.8%
InfoPark INPOCKinpock.co.kr6,041,2893289.3%
Eufyeufy.com3,835,5836464.7%
Hmallhmall.com2,850,3504089.1%
KREAMkream.co.kr2,829,6145026.9%

Visits and authority are third-party web estimates, not company-reported figures.

Most-installed apps

652 of these companies (26.6%) publish at least one Android app — 1,427 apps in all, carrying 900.5M installs between them.

AppInstallsRatingStore category
Coupang - Mobile ShoppingCoupang66.2M2.7Shopping
11st11st45.8M4.6Shopping
Karrot: Buy & sell locallyKarrot43.9M4.3Social
GmarketGmarket(eBay Korea)31.8M4.7Shopping
Stickman The FlashCafe 2427.8M4.7Action
GS SHOPGS Shop27M4.7Shopping
7Zipper - File Explorer (zip, Cafe 2422.3M3.8Tools
AuctionAuction21.5M4.6Shopping
번개장터bungaejangter21.2M4.2Shopping
Coupang PlayCoupang21M3.5Entertainment

Installs are lifetime totals to date at the June 2026 store reading — a measure of reach, not of people using an app today.

App reach by segment

The busiest app inside each of this page’s own segments, with the quarterly release trend behind it (2024Q1–2026Q2).

SegmentAppsInstallsLeading appRelease trend
Horizontal E-Commerce88418.3MCoupang - Mobile Shopping 66.2M
Fashion Tech852219.7MStickman The Flash 27.8M
B2C E-Commerce3962.3M번개장터 21.2M
Retailers2750.3MSSG.COM 13.9M
Retail Chains1136.3M마이 홈플러스 10.5M
Second Hand Goods534M중고나라 - 안심되는 중고거래 12.6M
Second Hand Goods Marketplaces333.8M당근 주문접수 - 사장님 24.7K
Beauty Tech7120.8MHwahae(Korea’s Beauty APP) 8.5M

A company can carry several segment tags, so these rows overlap and should not be added together. Trend lines are zero-based and share one quarter grid, so a flat line is a quiet segment, not a missing one.

Release cadence by quarter

New apps published, beside apps whose most recent update landed in that quarter — the second bar is how much of the shelf is still being maintained.

2023Q2: 82023Q2: 392023Q22023Q3: 172023Q3: 92023Q32023Q4: 132023Q4: 102023Q42024Q1: 152024Q1: 122024Q12024Q2: 122024Q2: 72024Q22024Q3: 112024Q3: 272024Q32024Q4: 132024Q4: 262024Q42025Q1: 272025Q1: 142025Q12025Q2: 232025Q2: 172025Q22025Q3: 192025Q3: 1252025Q32025Q4: 152025Q4: 4392025Q42026Q1: 222026Q1: 1622026Q1

Darker bars are new releases, lighter bars apps updated. 938 of 1,427 apps carry a release date. The series ends at 2026Q1, the last quarter that closed before the June 2026 reading.

INSIDE THE INDUSTRY

The South Korea retail market map

Explore the segments behind the headline numbers.

Expand panel +

Where companies are building

Rank segments by scale, hiring or disclosed funding.

Consumer digital1,412
B2c e-commerce1,368
B2c fashion e-commerce536
Internet first brands476
Beauty e-commerce388
K-beauty244
Internet first fashion brands240
Enterprise tech212
Digital skin care190
Internet first beauty brands125
Internet first apparel brands115
Women apparel e-commerce113

Companies can sit in several segments. Counts and funding overlap.

SEGMENT TO EXPLORE

Consumer digital

The largest measured segment in this report snapshot.

1412companies
1.1%have hiring activity

16 companies hiring · $7.32B disclosed funding

Explore in Radar

How companies make money

Common revenue models; a company can use more than one.

E-commerce - product1,805
E-commerce - service551
Subscription500
Commission on transaction366
Physical commerce210
Advertising203
Fee-for-service98
Renting / leasing13
THE COMPANIES IN MOTION

Who is listing, hiring leaders, launching and winning work

Recorded corporate activity linked to companies in this landscape.

Expand panel +
Recent corporate headlines 10 dated reports
Mergers & acquisitionszigzag.kr ↗

ZigZag, the global post-purchase and returns network, has completed the acquisition of leading post-purchase platform Shipup.

Mergers & acquisitionswaters.co.nz ↗

Becton Dickinson’s sale of its LifeSciences Bioprocessing segment to Waters Corp (WAT), closing February 9, 2026, creates a pure-play MedTech company that still participates in Medical Essential, Connected Care, Biopharma Systems, and Interventional, the analyst tells investors in a research note.

Mergers & acquisitionscitech.kr ↗

The AUD $7.7 million acquisition adds state‑of‑the‑art fabrication facilities to CiTech's operations.

Funding roundsrxc.co.kr ↗

RXC (알엑스씨), founded by Yoo Han-ik, a founding member of Coupang and former TMON board chair, secured KRW 7 billion (USD 5.3 million) in Series A funding.

Funding roundscoxspace.com ↗

A Korean startup has raised $854,000 from 8,200 backers across 60 countries for a ring-shaped controller that replaces touchscreens with mid-air gestures.

Mergers & acquisitionshomeplus.co.kr ↗

AI company Harex InfoTech and an anonymous bidder have expressed their interest by submitting their respective letters of intent (LOIs) before the cut-off date of October 31.

Mergers & acquisitionsssg.com ↗

We are exceptionally proud to announce the acquisition of SSG," said Wahl Bartmann, Group CEO of Fidelity.

Funding roundsaircapseoul.com ↗

🇫🇷 Aircap raises €500,000 to lead risk and cash flow management for private assets

Mergers & acquisitionstmon.co.kr ↗

the heavily indebted e-commerce platform’s Oasis, a fresh grocery delivery company, announced Monday that it is acquiring TMON for 11.6 billion won ($8.3 million)

IPO activitycoupang.com ↗

South Korean e-commerce company Coupang (NYSE: CPNG) launched its U.S. IPO in March 2021.

Full recorded event mix

Top 10 categories among 319 recorded events in the 24-month window.

Earnings
82
Company announcements
62
Lawsuit
34
Mergers & acquisitions
34
Regulatory
30
Leadership moves
26
New products
18
Job creation
8
Contracts
7
Funding rounds
5
7 activity cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

IPO pipeline

1 companies with recorded IPO activity

Coupang ↗

IPO · NYSE5 reports

Leadership moves

11 tracked people moves

Coupang ↗
Harold Rogers

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Coupang ↗
Park Dae-jun

Resignation Previously Chief Executive Officer

Coupang ↗
Park Dae-joon

Resignation Previously Chief Executive Officer

TirTir ↗
V

Appointment Global Brand Ambassador

Lee Sun-joo

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Kim Deok-joo

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Seo Min-sung

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Lee Seung-min

Appointment Chief Executive Officer

Product launches

Products, platforms and features in the recorded window

Lotte Mart ↗
March Tongkeun Day promotion

Promotion

SodaCrew ↗
SodaGift overseas gifting platform

Service

Contract wins

4 recorded customer wins

Customer: iraqInfrastructure

Waters ↗

Customer: becton dickinsonHealthcare Diagnostics

Sky Labs ↗

Customer: otsuka pharmaceuticalHealthcare

Coupang ↗

Customer: Washington Capitals

Workforce actions

2 companies with reported reductions

Emart ↗

Scale not stated roles

Scale not stated roles

Regulatory events

37 recorded events

Coupang ↗

designated as same‑person controlling entityFair Trade Commission (FTC)

OliveYoung ↗

Korean Intellectual Property Office

Coupang ↗

fined for overdue interestSouth Korea\'s Fair Trade Commission

Coupang ↗

fined for unlawful pricing pressureSouth Korea\'s Fair Trade Commission

Litigation

17 tracked suits

Company
An investor v coupang

Federal Securities Laws violationCivil · Filed

Company
U.S. House Judiciary Committee v coupang

Regulatory investigation into discrimination against U.S. companiesRegulatory ·

Earnings pulse

Reported company results in the recorded window.

17companies
81period observations
12.6%median reported growth

Median across 77 reported growth observations; companies may contribute multiple periods.

Mergers and acquisitions

Company-linked deal reports; status is preserved as recorded.

Acquirer → targetStatusDateValue / context
Zig Zag→shipupCompleted2026-04-21Not stated in snapshot
Waters→becton dickinsonPending2026-02-09Not stated in snapshot
CI Tech→NaAnnounced2026-01-22Not stated in snapshot
Waters→BD\'s biosciences and diagnostics businesses2026-01-09Not stated in snapshot
Waters→BD2026-01-09Not stated in snapshot
Harex InfoTech→Homeplus Co. ↗Announced2025-11-04$2.0B

A discussion or rumour is not a completed transaction. An unstated value is not zero.

PEOPLE & OPPORTUNITY

The talent market

0 postings in the preceding 12 months. The full 1-posting snapshot covers 1 employers.

Expand panel +

Most advertised job titles

Retail Manager1
1 internship postings

0 tracked postings mention remote work.

The seniority mix

1 postings specify a level.

manager
1
THE PEOPLE BUILDING THE FIELD

Founders and leaders

562 founders and chief executives across 510 companies.

Expand panel +
12 profiles

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

Education networks

27 profiles with education records.

Seoul National University
5
Wharton School
3
KAIST - Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology
3
University of Pennsylvania
2
INSEAD
2
University of California (Berkeley)
2
Columbia University
1
University of Toronto
1

Prior employers

6 profiles with prior-work records.

Profiles cover recorded founders and leaders; contact details remain in Radar.

NEWS INTELLIGENCE

How this industry appears in the news

256,537 articles in the measured 12-month window.

Expand panel +
256,537articles in the measured year
44,482articles in 2026Q1
33.8%positive tone in the latest complete year

News volume trends

Retail coverage across South Korea · articles per complete quarter

036,36372,725109,088145,4512021Q2: 28,9212021Q22021Q3: 32,3042021Q4: 29,8382022Q1: 34,8482022Q2: 33,4602022Q22022Q3: 36,1712022Q4: 52,3522023Q1: 47,4442023Q2: 45,5242023Q22023Q3: 51,0282023Q4: 41,6482024Q1: 49,1422024Q2: 53,4422024Q22024Q3: 54,1192024Q4: 67,5802025Q1: 76,3522025Q2: 50,0662025Q22025Q3: 126,4792025Q4: 40,5902026Q1: 44,4822026Q1
View quarterly article counts
QuarterArticles
2021Q228,921
2021Q332,304
2021Q429,838
2022Q134,848
2022Q233,460
2022Q336,171
2022Q452,352
2023Q147,444
2023Q245,524
2023Q351,028
2023Q441,648
2024Q149,142
2024Q253,442
2024Q354,119
2024Q467,580
2025Q176,352
2025Q250,066
2025Q3126,479
2025Q440,590
2026Q144,482

Article volume measures coverage, not market sales.

Tone of coverage over time

2021
50,530 positive · 31,659 neutral · 24,436 negative
2022
72,261 positive · 45,152 neutral · 39,259 negative
2023
88,776 positive · 56,249 neutral · 40,482 negative
2024
90,377 positive · 88,646 neutral · 45,098 negative
2025
99,117 positive · 140,015 neutral · 54,208 negative

Leading coverage topics

Retail coverage across South Korea · ranked by full-period article count.

International And Transnational Geographic Entities300,239 articles in the full recorded period
100,254 recent · 75,556 prior
Geopolitical Disputes And Contested Areas300,235 articles in the full recorded period
100,251 recent · 75,556 prior
Administrative And Political Subdivisions300,218 articles in the full recorded period
100,249 recent · 75,545 prior
International Political Relations23,780 articles in the full recorded period
5,203 recent · 5,247 prior
Security And Defense Policies18,301 articles in the full recorded period
3,868 recent · 4,274 prior
International Relations And Diplomacy16,228 articles in the full recorded period
2,976 recent · 3,502 prior
Trade Policies And Agreements12,705 articles in the full recorded period
6,200 recent · 3,586 prior
International Sports Competitions12,372 articles in the full recorded period
2,482 recent · 1,873 prior
Cryptocurrency Impact On Forex Markets8,594 articles in the full recorded period
2,720 recent · 1,340 prior
Military Technology Advancements6,414 articles in the full recorded period
965 recent · 1,278 prior

Recent and prior counts use the source comparison windows.

Topics gaining and losing attention

Retail coverage across South Korea

KeywordRecentPriorChange
countries3,8851,701128%
trade dispute mechanisms1,35493445%
bilateral trade1,27680259%
trade facilitation commitments60442542%
summit diplomacy46425979%
study overseas410156163%
stablecoin fx impact40279409%
bilateral trade terms40028142%
oil price volatility38460540%
overseas study354151134%
aircraft wreckage77620-88%
aircraft emergency procedures54505-89%
olympic team selections270470-43%
flight safety measures66458-86%
korean dmz clashes153358-57%

Event and signal lenses

Retail coverage across South Korea

All complete annual cohorts shown
Rising

Regulatory Risk

553,378 classified articles

territories, disputed islands, countries

14.9% critical · 10.3% positive
Rising

Funding Momentum

27,673 classified articles

quarterfinals, world cup, pre-ipo valuation

40.9% critical · 45.8% positive
Rising

Growth

99,536 classified articles

gdp growth rate, gdp acceleration, economic output growth

32.7% critical · 47.9% positive

Retail coverage across South Korea. Topic labels describe recorded classifications and can include broad context.

GEOGRAPHIC FOOTPRINT

Where companies are based

Company counts, hiring and disclosed funding across the recorded hubs.

Expand panel +
8 cards

Swipe or scroll horizontally to browse.

UNDERSTAND THE LANDSCAPE

Retail in South Korea: key questions

Clear definitions for making better comparisons.

What does this landscape measure?

It measures the tracked company ecosystem, recorded funding, hiring and other available evidence. It is not a market-size estimate.

Can segment counts be added together?

No. A company can belong to several segments, so segment counts and funding can overlap.

What does a missing figure mean?

A dash or unavailable panel means the current reviewed source snapshot does not support that figure.

KEEP EXPLORING

Put South Korea in context

All landscapes ↗

Company ecosystem snapshot: 6 August 2026. Funding is recorded in USD; filed accounts retain their stated currency and reporting basis. Each section identifies its own coverage. The news and research behind these sections is explorable in Prism.

Canonical landscape ↗
Coming soon