The acquiring group, through its venture capital arm Korelya Capital, already owned 29.5% of the Spanish scaleup, which it had acquired by leading two investment rounds between 2021 and 2023, which involved various international venture capital investors, but at valuations much higher than the current one.
South Korean internet giant Naver has announced the acquisition of an additional 70.5% stake in Wallapop, a well-known Spanish secondhand e-commerce platform based in Barcelona, also present in Italy and Portugal, for €377 million, increasing its stake from 29.5% to 100%. The transaction values the company at €600 million, and after a further capital injection, the post-money valuation will be approximately €650 million (see Catalan News here and Ara here), significantly lower than the post-money valuation of the last Series G round extension in February 2024, which was €806 million (see the press release from that time here).
The transaction, which is expected to be completed in the coming months, subject to obtaining the relevant regulatory approvals, was conducted by Naver through its venture capital arm Korelya Capital, with which Naver initially invested €115 million in 2021, followed by another €75 million in 2023. Naver and its Japanese subsidiary Line are the sole investors in the funds managed by Korelya Capital, a venture capital firm founded in 2016 by Fleur Pellerin, former French Minister for the Digital Economy (see the press release on the launch of the first fund here), which currently boasts over €800 million in assets under management.
Wallapop raised €81 million in its 2023 round, which was subscribed by Korelya Capital as well as other existing investors, including Accel, 14W, and Insight Venture Partners, bringing the scaleup to a valuation of €771 million (see the press release from that time here). The company later announced two extensions to this latest round. While it did not specifically disclose the first, it did disclose that the second, in February 2024, raised €20 million and saw AXIS invest in the company through the Fond-ICO Next Tech fund, thus reaching a valuation of €806 million (see the press release from that time here). The previous round, in February 2021, raised €157 million and valued the company at €690 million. That round, as mentioned, was led by Korelaya Capital and included participation from Accel, Insight Venture Partners, 14W, GP Bullhound, and Northzone (see the press release at the time).
Founded in 2013 by Chairman Agustin Gomez, along with Gerard Olive e Miguel Vicente, both co-founders of the Barcelona-based venture firm Antai Venture, Wallapop today boasts over 19 million monthly active users and facilitates peer-to-peer transactions across a wide range of categories, from everyday goods to electronics to used vehicles. The scaleup is currently focused on internationalization and growing its circular economy business in Southern Europe. The company launched its platform in Italy in 2021 and arrived in Portugal the following year. The company, which celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2023, closed its 2023 financial year with revenue of approximately €91 million, up 26% from €71.6 million in 2022.
Wallapop will now continue to operate from its Barcelona headquarters under the leadership of ceo Rob Cassedy, maintaining both its employee base and its brand (see Cassedy’s LinkedIn post here).
Choi Soo-yeon, ceo of Naver, commented: “Wallapop has established itself as a formidable player in the Spanish C2C landscape. With this latest acquisition, we intend to combine Naver’s technology, which spans search, advertising, payments, and artificial intelligence, with Wallapop’s user-friendly service to enhance the platform’s capabilities and value proposition.”
