Wallapop wants to fly with Korean money

A woman searches for items in WallapopSanti Burgos / EL PAÍS

Perhaps Wallapop, the Barcelona platform for the sale of second-hand products, is missing a basic function: the possibility of uploading an entire country or a big problem and being able to sell it to another.

Spain would not do badly, but the company is doing very well.

It has closed a financing round of 157 million euros, the largest of the seven it has embarked on since its foundation in 2013. It involves valuing the company at 690 million euros.

It is still far from being a unicorn (firms that are worth more than 1 billion dollars), but it begins to have a silver back and a certain magical tinge.

This magic comes, among other spells, from Fleur Pellerin (South Korea, 1973), former French Minister of Culture (2014-2016) in the Government of François Hollande.

After 15 years in the Administration, he left the public space to create the French investment fund Korelya Capital (Glovo, Vestiaire Collective and Bolt, among others), which has led the entry into Wallapop in this latest round of financing.

This instrument is backed by Naver, one of South Korea's leading technology firms, owner of the free messaging application Line, a news agency and the most widely used search engine in the country.

What is a former Minister of Culture pursuing in a fund?

“For an instant,” he narrates by videoconference, “it was as if the stars aligned.

I had already completed my public cycle.

And an unexpected opportunity came to me.

I met the founder of Naver, Lee Hae-jin;

we spoke, he is a visionary, and we felt that we shared the same idea: to help France and Europe to build a strong technological ecosystem ”.

Against the icy, howling winds of America's tech platforms.

"Perhaps a decade ago saying this was not politically correct: but I am in favor of dismantling them," he deepens.

They do not pay taxes, nor do they pay the media for using their news, and for this they have so much money and can pay a worker seven times what a European employee receives.

They take the talent, he sums up.

“I support all the initiatives of the European Union to curb its power.

It is impossible to compete against someone who does not pay, ”he criticizes.

"There is no possibility of innovation when the rules of the game are not the same for everyone."

This is the land, sometimes wasteland, where this nascent mythological endemism tries to survive.

Electronic commerce lives its echoes of jazz.

Spain is one of the countries where it grows the most.

Good time for Accel, 14W, GP Bullhound, Northzone and Insight Venture Partners to support the new round.

"The past year has been crazy," admits Rob Cassedy, CEO of Wallapop.

March, April and May were months lost by covid-19.

In spite of everything, it closed the year with an increase in its income of more than 50% and registered the highest number of users: an increase of between 40% and 50%.

"With the economic situation, people valued more being able to transform the things they did not need into money and many SMEs and entrepreneurs found an

online

channel

for their articles

on the platform

," notes Cassedy.

The manager does not provide numbers of the balance sheet or how the shareholders are distributed after that cornucopia of money.

However, the latest accounts presented in the Mercantile Registry correspond to 2019. That year - as reported by

Cinco Días

- it had revenues of 16.5 million (20.7% more than in 2018) and losses of 6.3 million of euros.

A year earlier it had brought the income statement to the blue numbers (134.5 million) thanks to the sale of its stake in the American Letgo.

Could I go outside again?

"We always dream of it, but for now we are totally focused on the Spanish market," says the head of Wallapop.

Template and Advertising

These are tense days, but Cassedy has no doubt that the classifieds company is putting on a solid glow.

In 2020, it had 15 million users per month and 80 million ads on the platform.

"We see opportunities in entrepreneurs -although our base is private users-, who have an inventory of products, and also in the improvement of our search systems and the delivery of articles," he points out.

They will continue to grow based on more hires (200 to 300 employees) and more advertising.

Although it is an "expensive" strategy.

The executive defends the value of the brand and its technology experts.

The support of Korelya Capital will not be lacking.

Fleur Pellerin is clear.

“We believe in the potential of the company and in the current management team.

It is not just about putting money in, but technological cooperation and the experience of our investors and partners in Asia.

Wallapop is a success story in Spain ”.

The former minister believes and sees the world through the eyes of her 16-year-old daughter.

“There is a change in how the younger generations consume.

I see it in her.

You don't want to have closets full of clothes and forget about it.

They are boys more aware of the environment and the cost of producing.

It is a transformation, a political statement;

it is what I feel in my environment ”, he reflects.

“80% of my clothes or the furniture that I have are used.

It is not a question of budget, but of where you stand on the planet ”.

This sensitivity, he acknowledges, "that 10 years ago was unthinkable for me," comes from his daughter.

Due to the change in mentality and because the competition is deep in e-commerce.

“In Asia, which is where they are most advanced, what they are looking for is to integrate everything: services, logistics, distribution, payments.

They are smart stores for consumers who demand a lot ”, describes Pellerin.

For now, Wallapop will not go public or be sold.

Unlike.

“We keep looking for new opportunities.

I travel a lot to Barcelona and we have found a great ecosystem in Spain, there are good managers and good funds ”, says the former minister.

Destination of funds

It is difficult to make money in e-commerce.

Wallapop uses three avenues: selling advertising space on its platform, shipping services (they leave you a small commission) and more visible places for those who want their articles to stand out.

But the injection of 157 million euros will have a destination.

"We will continue to improve the user experience, reduce friction in the value chain (integrate home delivery in the application), increase the number of customers and also be a reference for small entrepreneurs and companies", anticipates Rob Cassedy , CEO of the firm.

All in search of being a unicorn (a company valued at $ 1 billion).

A dream and a risk.

Silvio Rodríguez has already sang: My blue unicorn was lost.

/ Passing by, I left him and he disappeared.

/ Any information / I'm going to pay for it ”.