This article was posted on Nov. 17, 2025, at 2:32 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Home shopping business synergies are expected to drive faster growth.
Financial investors (FI) are giving positive assessments about Rapport Labs, operator of the middle-aged and older women's fashion platform QueenIt, pushing to acquire SK Stoa. They expect the SK Stoa acquisition to expand both the customer base and sales channels.
On the 17th, venture capital (VC) industry sources said that as Rapport Labs seeks to raise about 60 billion won in additional funding to finance the SK Stoa acquisition, major FIs including SBVA (formerly SoftBank Ventures), Altos Ventures, and Atinum Investment have begun reviewing additional investments.
Rapport Labs earlier entered SK Telecom's sale of SK Stoa and became the preferred bidder. The acquisition target is 100% of SK Stoa shares held by SK Telecom. Rapport Labs completed due diligence and has entered the stage of negotiating the final acquisition. The final acquisition price is expected to be around 110 billion won.
Rapport Labs is reported to have set a policy to raise at least 180 billion won. This includes the SK Stoa acquisition price plus post-acquisition investment, and the company plans to first raise 65 billion won from cash-like assets and deposits, then seek investment and acquisition financing.
Fundraising is said to be proceeding smoothly. Rapport Labs' FIs believe that synergies will increase if QueenIt and SK Stoa are combined. At an investor briefing Rapport Labs held for shareholders in early Oct., most FIs reportedly expressed more expectation than concern.
FIs view channel diversification as the biggest advantage of acquiring SK Stoa. SK Stoa is the No. 1 data home shopping (t-commerce) company, recording annual sales of 302.3 billion won last year; QueenIt would secure home shopping sales channels, and SK Stoa would secure a mobile sales channel.
VCs say Rapport Labs' acquisition of SK Stoa would also be positive for SK Stoa. Home shopping companies such as KT Alpha and Lotte Home Shopping have already used QueenIt to expand online sales. Going forward, SK Stoa will be able to sell broadcast and commerce planned merchandise (MD) directly on QueenIt.
An early investor in Rapport Labs, a VC representative, said QueenIt is an online fashion platform targeting women in their 40s and 50s and its customer base overlaps with SK Stoa, a home shopping channel operator. He said Rapport Labs' strength in IT development combined with SK Stoa's channel capabilities could reduce operating expenses.
Another VC official said that combining QueenIt's data on shopping patterns, price sensitivity and tastes of the 40s-50s generation with TV home shopping would have great impact, and they are viewing the investment positively because they expect SK Stoa to grow rather than only QueenIt.
However, concerns about acquisition suitability due to the size difference are seen as an obstacle Rapport Labs must overcome. Founded in 2020, the loss-making startup with annual sales of about 71.1 billion won is trying to acquire SK Stoa, a profitable company with annual sales of 302.3 billion won as of last year, prompting criticism that it is like a shrimp swallowing a whale.
Internal resistance at SK Stoa is particularly strong. The SK Stoa branch under the SK Broadband Labor Union has planned to begin collective action. The union said that recently in the distribution industry small companies have repeatedly tried to acquire larger companies recklessly and ended in mutual destruction, and Rapport Labs is no different.
Rapport Labs said that SK Stoa, whose growth has stagnated, would gain a new growth channel in mobile, and QueenIt would be able to further increase high-quality products at SK Stoa. The company said that because many institutions beyond existing FIs are considering investment, it expects it may be possible to raise more than 90 billion won in new investments.