Venture capital (VC) firms including Smilegate Investment made a new investment of 4.5 billion won in Rootrix, a landscaping tree distribution platform.
On the 23rd, according to the VC industry, Smilegate Investment and CJ Investment recently took part in Rootrix's Series A fundraising and invested 4.5 billion won. IBK Industrial Bank of Korea and Banks Foundation for Young Entrepreneurs (Dcamp) also joined as new investors.
Rootrix, founded in 2021, operates a distribution platform that connects construction companies, contractors, and individuals that need trees with tree suppliers. It collected data from more than 700 farms nationwide and quantified and digitized information such as species, specifications, form, and price.
In particular, Rootrix consolidated who is selling which trees and at what price among about 10,000 tree farms scattered nationwide, securing eight major domestic landscaping contractors as clients. Revenue, which was 3.3 billion won in 2024, increased to 4.7 billion won last year.
Based on its record of supplying trees to apartments and golf courses, Rootrix plans to expand its services to small and midsize landscaping contractors. It also plans to complete by the first half of the year a procurement structure in which a single tree quotation request leads directly to delivery to the supplying site.
Ahn Jeong-rok, CEO of Rootrix, said, "In landscaping, trees were always an exceptional variable, but Rootrix has turned them into a constant," and added, "We will be a partner without uncertainty so clients can focus solely on their core landscaping work without worrying about price or delivery time."