이 기사는 2021년 07월 27일 07:57 thebell 에 표출된 기사입니다.

Investment and finance experts with experience of working at global firms have joined online grocery delivery service Kurly Inc as the South Korean unicorn startup is gearing up for an initial public offering on the local bourse.

Peter Song recently joined Kurly as a senior leader, a rank equivalent to or higher than an executive director in regular companies, according to industry sources.

Song has nearly 20 years of experience in real estate investing and investment banking. He started his career in 2005 as an investment banker working at Merrill Lynch. Song moved to global buyout firm Blackstone in 2011 where he was responsible for investments in real estate properties in South Korea. In 2015, he joined Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC where he focused on investing in logistics infrastructure.

Prior to joining Kurly, he worked at real estate fund manager ESR Kendall Square, which last year listed ESR Kendall Square REIT in South Korea’s largest distribution center REIT offering.

Song is expected to play a leading role in Kurly’s efforts to increase infrastructure capacity, industry watchers said. The retail startup, which operates online grocery delivery platform Market Kurly, has grown rapidly since its foundation in 2014 as its overnight fresh food delivery service gains popularity amid the shift to online shopping.

Kurly needs to continue to expand cold storage facilities across the country in order to accelerate revenue growth and maintain service quality at the same time. Kurly’s distribution center in Gimpo started operations in March, expanding its overnight delivery service beyond the Seoul metropolitan area to Chungcheong Province. Kurly plans to use the proceeds from its planned flotation to provide a nationwide overnight delivery service of fresh food.

Park Jin-kyung, a finance veteran with 25 years of experience at several multi-national companies, also recently joined Kurly as a senior leader. Before joining Kurly, Park spent six years working at eBay Korea where she led finance operations and was responsible for internal controls and compliance management.

A graduate of Ewha Womans University, Park previously worked at several global companies including US-based Honeywell, software company BEA Systems and US tech giant Oracle, which acquired BEA Systems in 2008.

The key to increasing the company’s value in the IPO is to narrow its operating loss. It recorded an operating loss of 116.2 billion won ($100.8 million) on revenue of 953.1 billion won in 2020 on a consolidated basis. (Reporting by Kyung-ju Lee)