이 기사는 2021년 07월 12일 07시38분 thebell에 표출된 기사입니다

A corporate value of Oasis, a South Korean online grocery delivery startup, has grown rapidly over the last year and is poised to become a unicorn company with a valuation over 1 trillion won ($870 million).

GaeaSoft, a parent company of Oasis, said in a regulatory filing Wednesday that Oasis has issued shares worth 50 billion won to private equity (PE) firm Unison Capital in a form of third party placement. It has been three months since the last time Oasis raised 15 billion won from Must Ventures, Cornerstone Partners, and Pentastone Investment in April.

Oasis has moved one step closer to a unicorn as it has been valued at 750 billion won in the latest fundraising, a 2.4 times increase from 315 billion won three months ago.

Korea Investment Partners’ PE unit, the first investor of Oasis, is expected to generate a handsome profit in a short period of time. Korea Investment Partners solely invested 12.6 billion won in the company at a valuation of 140 billion won in April 2020. The company’s corporate value has grown more than fivefold in just 15 months.

After that, Korea Investment Partners purchased 10 billion won convertible bonds issued by GaeaSoft in October 2020. It also bought shares owned by Oasis’ employees and GaeaSoft’s exchangeable bonds. The firm has estimated to have injected around 36.6 billion won into Oasis and GaeaSoft.

Oasis, which was founded in October 2011 by a few members of a consumer cooperative, started as an operator of offline grocery stores.

With its price competitiveness gained from delivering fresh food directly from the farm, Oasis has seen the number of its stores increase to more than 70 since its foundation.

Oasis launched an early-morning delivery service in August 2018 and adopted a price cut strategy to further increase its market share. The company recorded an operating profit of 9.7 billion won last year. It is expected to enhance its early-morning delivery service as it expands the logistics business through its subsidiary.

Oasis targets to go public as early as the end of this year. It hired NH Investment & Securities and Korea Investment & Securities as lead underwriters. Korea Investment Partners is likely to generate hefty profits from its investment if Oasis becomes the unicorn during the initial public offering process. (Reporting by Se-Hun Jo)