Coupang

History

2023: An army of robots in fulfillment centers. Video

Coupang Inc., a South Korean e-commerce pioneer that lost billions of dollars by early February 2023 since its founding, is deploying an army of robots in fulfillment centers in an attempt to achieve profitability.

Bloomberg took an exclusive look at Coupang's newest facility in the southern city of Daegu. See video.

2021: Going public, estimated at $60 billion

In mid-March 2021, the South Korean e-commerce company Coupang entered the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of the company rose 40%, breaking the IPO record in 2021 in the United States. In total, 130 million Coupang shares were sold during the IPO: 100 million securities were placed by the company itself and another 30 million by its shareholders. The placement price was $35 per paper.

Initially, Coupang planned to sell shares at a price of $27-30 per share, but on March 9 raised the IPO price range to $32-34 per share. As a result, the placement price exceeded the upper limit of the declared range. At a price of $35 per share, Coupang's capitalization is about $60 billion. According to PitchBook, the company was last valued at $9 billion in a 2018 funding round.

Coupang goes public with NYSE

Founded in 2010 by Korean-American billionaire Bom Kim, Coupang (pronounced "Kopong") made a name for itself thanks to a guaranteed delivery service on the same or the next day. Often compared to Amazon, Coupang is one of the country's top three employers among private companies, includes more than 100 logistics centers in more than 30 cities and employs 15,000 drivers in South Korea for its deliveries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of consumers stayed at home, which led to a boom in e-commerce. As a result, Coupang almost doubled its revenue to $12 billion. Coupang plans to direct IPO proceeds to corporate-wide purposes, working capital financing and capital investment.

Coupang's market debut was also a pleasant event for SoftBank, whose $100 billion Vision Fund owns more than 35% of Coupang. The company also includes Sequoia Capital and BlackRock funds on its investor list.^[1]

Notes