Korea : Goldman Sachs invests $36m in online food ordering company Woowa

Goldman Sachs’ private equity investment unit has led a KRW40bn ($36m) financing round for South Korean online food ordering major Woowa Brothers.

The Series D round follows a $12m investment in the business in March from IMM Investment, Altos Ventures and CyberAgent Ventures.

Last year Woowa had a net income of about $424,000 on $9.7m of revenue according to the Wall Street Journal, which said the company was on course to more than double revenue this year.

It added that 99 per cent of Woowa’s custom comes through mobile devices, compared to less than half for US and UK peers GrubHub and Just Eat.

In the summer European venture capital major Index Ventures led a £2.75m Series A round for London-based food delivery business Deliveroo.

Hoxton Venture also took part in the round, which Deliveroo said would go towards strengthening the logistics technology and delivery platform.

Deliveroo allows people to order restaurant-standard meals to their homes, with users currently receiving their food, on average, within half an hour of submitting their order.