This article was published on Aug. 12, 2025, at 9:36 a.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
K-Beauty startup Igongigong, which has grown based on global e-commerce giant Amazon, has begun preparations for an initial public offering. Founded by a CEO born in 1992, the company is expected to achieve sales of 100 billion won this year and has recently been valued at approximately 170 billion won.
On the 11th, according to the investment banking (IB) industry, Igongigong recently appointed Korea Investment & Securities as the lead underwriter for its public offering. The goal is to complete the initial public offering (IPO) by the end of next year.
Igongigong is a distribution and marketing expert that supports K-Beauty brands in entering the North American online and offline markets. It has helped more than 170 brands, including "Gahii," "It's Skin," "Modamoda," and "Osulloc," establish themselves in the U.S. market. A similar corporation is SILICON2, which is listed on the stock market.
Igongigong is a company established in 2019 by CEO Hyung Joo-hyuk, who was born in 1992. From the beginning, it has strategically focused solely on the North American market, with all of its sales generated from that region. The main sales channel is Amazon, and it is known that Igongigong's sales scale on Amazon has already surpassed that of SILICON2.
The growth rate is steep. This year, it is projected to record sales of 100 billion won and an operating profit of 20 billion won, which is an increase of 2.5 times in sales and 5 times in operating profit compared to last year.
The achievements in attracting investment are also noticeable. Last month, Igongigong received 37 billion won in investment at a pre-money valuation of 130 billion won. It is currently at the Series D stage. As a result of this investment, the post-money valuation has become approximately 170 billion won.
Key investors in Igongigong include venture capital (VC) firms Laguna Investment, Smilegate Investment, A Ventures, Korea Investment Partners, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, Lotte Ventures, and Timeworks Investment.
Among them, Laguna Investment has invested in every round from the pre-Series A stage in 2021 to the recent Series D. They currently hold approximately 12% equity. Laguna Investment has also invested in Blimonkeys, which adopts a similar business model, holding a 10% equity stake.