KREAM and SODA Announce Strategic Integration to Create Asia’s Largest C2C Fashion Platform
KREAM Corporation has announced its strategic integration with SODA, the operator of Japan’s largest limited-edition goods trading platform, SNKRDUNK. Through the investment, Soda is expected to be incorporated into KREAM’s consolidated subsidiary.
Kream raised 50.6 billion won in investment in March, completing its Series C round at 220 billion won.
Soda launched its SNKRDUNK service in 2018 and is best known as a Japanese startup backed by SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2. In 2021, SODA acquired MONOKABU, the second-largest player in the market, solidifying its position as the undisputed leader in the Japanese market.
KREAM was launched in 2020 as one of the services operated by NAVER’s subsidiary, SNOW Corporation, and emerged as the largest and fastest growing player in the Korean fashion C2C market. Since its inception, KREAM has recorded an annual growth rate exceeding 230% based on transaction volume strongly followed by the nation’s trend-setting MZ and Alpha generation crowd.
The integration of the two companies is expected to provide an expanded product offering and channel offering to both the consumer and fashion brands not only in Korea and Japan, the two largest Asian markets for limited goods, but also eventually in other countries such as US, Australia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc., where KREAM and SODA have respective operations or exposure.
The integration planning for synergies between KREAM and SODA is set to be completed in the first half of 2024. Current SODA management will continue to run SODA’s operation and an IPO of SODA in Japan is also being considered. SODA’s CEO and founder Yuta Uchiyama will be joining KREAM as its board member as well as chief officer for the combined operation’s global expansion.
Meanwhile, KREAM has also made additional investments in Sasom Company, which operates the leading Thailand’s limited-edition trading platform SASOM. Thailand is an emerging market leading Southeast Asia. As the size of the 1020-centered market is growing rapidly, the business is expected to grow even higher in the future.
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