BM Smile nabs $21 mn investment from SK networks

Pethroom booth at “2023 Shanghai Pet Fair”. [Courtesy of Pethroom]

South Korean pet platform company BM Smile announced on Monday that it successfully secured a 28 billion won ($21 million) investment from SK networks, placing the company’s value at 280 billion won and making it the highest valued pet-related business in the country. BM Smile has a vertical integration system, the first of its kind in a pet market that is still at its nascent stages, allowing it to maintain a competitive edge that others cannot match, a company official said.

Notably, the company’s brand Pethroom is known as a premium bathroom lifestyle brand for pets that offers a wide selection of necessities. It has solidified its position as a dominant pet brand in the country, gaining recognition for both its uniqueness and quality.

The brand garnered the most visitors among participants at the recent “2023 Shanghai Pet Fair.” BM Smile’s expansion into the Japanese market proved to be a resounding success, with the brand achieving the top spot in sales in the Amazon Japan pet category just one month after entering the market. The accomplishment earned BM Smile the Amazon Brand Award Super Rookie Seller title.

The company has also successfully initiated collaborations with major conglomerates from various industries, including Korean Air Lines Co., Dongwon F&B Co., Kwangdong Pharmaceutical Co., and Yuhan Corp. BM Smile’s cat litter subscription service, based on its in-house research and manufacturing facility, is also thriving.

In the first half of 2023, BM Smile recorded a consolidated revenue of some 500 billion won, which includes those from its subsidiaries, and the company expects to hit a total revenue of around 1 trillion won by the end of the year. With the recent recognition of a corporate value estimated at 2.8 trillion won, BM Smile’s price-sales ratio (PSR) stands at around 2.8 times.