Food tech startup Sir.LOIN seeks Series B funding; valuation to top $40mn

South Korea-based food tech company Sir.LOIN Inc. is seeking Series B funding in the range of 10 billion won as industry watchers project the startup to receive a valuation of over 50 billion won ($44.4 million).

According to the venture capital industry on May 5, Sir.LOIN is currently tapping multiple VCs to attract investments. It is understood that a number of new investors, alongside previous investors, have expressed the intent to invest.

“We expect the funding round to close early given that the company has received much attention from institutional investors,” said a VC industry official.

In July 2020, Sir.LOIN wrapped up a 4 billion won Series A round from investors including Hana Ventures, Smilegate Investment, Donghoon Investment and Enlight Ventures. So far, the company has raised 6 billion won in total, including seed capital.

The company was founded in 2017 by Byun Joon-won, a graduate of the College of Engineering at Seoul National University. The food tech startup operates a Korean beef, or Hanwoo brand “Sir.Loin” and a franchise Korean beef restaurant, Samjung Hanu.

Sir.LOIN manages the overall process from feeding, breeding, aging and processing the meat. It also focuses heavily on e-commerce operations, with 70 percent of its sales stemming from online sales.

Based on a direct-to-consumer (D2C) model, the startup standardizes the quality of Korean beef (Hanwoo) and sells it to consumers directly via its platform. Also, the company’s meat quality has been widely acclaimed, driving a successful business-to-business (B2B) model with Sir.LOIN supplying meat to Michelin three-star restaurants.

The company has been demonstrating strong growth since its establishment. Last year, Sir.LOIN exceeded 10 billion won in sales -- threefold that of the previous year.

This year, the company expects to post up to 30 billion won in revenue. In the near future, the company plans to include pork and chicken in its operations.

“The contactless culture has led to a rise in online sales, bringing the company explosive growth. Sir.LOIN's strength lies in its positioning as a food tech firm instead of a simple meat company,” said a VC industry official.

Write to Jong-woo Kim at jongwoo@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.