Antler Co-Leads $15M Series A Financing of Wholesum
Gunderson Dettmer represented Antler, a global early-stage venture capital firm, as it co-led the $15 million Series A financing of Wholesum, a Seoul-headquartered e-commerce aggregator. The new capital will enable the company to acquire another 15-20 brands across lifestyle, health, children and pet categories this year.
In the announcement of the transaction, co-founder at Wholesum Andrew Joo said, “The pandemic and maturing e-commerce platforms inspired the creation of 10,000 new independent brands per month in Korea. Consumer curiosity to experiment and try new retail experiences grew. This generated brand traction and consumer following but led to growth that’s difficult to sustain for many brand entrepreneurs. The solution to their pain points is why Wholesum exists.”
The Gunderson deal team was led by Jonathan Pentzien and included David Wang, Anna Zhang, Benjamin Teo and Grace Gu.