CJ OnStyle to More Than Double Direct and Indirect Investments for Future Growth

CJ OnStyle logo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] CJ OnStyle announced on the 8th that it plans to more than double its direct and indirect investments this year to strengthen core categories such as fashion and living, and to secure related value chain capabilities.

CJ OnStyle will make a direct investment of 3 billion KRW in Brunt Co., Ltd., which operates the premium living specialized platform COLLECTION.B. This is to secure differentiated competitiveness in the living category. Considering the growth potential of the domestic online premium living market and synergy with existing businesses, CJ OnStyle led a Series A investment round worth a total of 6 billion KRW in Brunt Co., Ltd., participating as a major investor. Once the investment is completed within this month, it will secure a 12% stake, becoming the second largest shareholder.

‘COLLECTION.B’ is a premium living platform led by CEO Nam Chanwoo, who previously oversaw UX and design at Naver and Hyundai Card. It selects and introduces over 300 unique and high-quality lifestyle brands worldwide. Notably, all brands listed are official importers or domestic branches of the respective brands, and more than 60 brands have started online sales for the first time in Korea or officially launched their full lineup through COLLECTION.B, earning strong trust from customers regarding the products. Additionally, to overcome the limitations of online platforms where direct experience is difficult, it has capabilities to implement digital content at the level of brand showrooms, such as self-produced virtual simulations and product introduction videos.

Through this investment, it is expected that CJ OnStyle will be able to showcase a variety of global premium living brand products that were previously difficult to access within its platform. Furthermore, by jointly sourcing global brands and creating additional synergy with the dining kitchen brand ‘Odense’ currently operated by CJ OnStyle, it is anticipated to secure competitiveness in the growing premium living market.

Last year, CJ OnStyle made direct investments of 4 billion KRW related to fashion and health functional food categories, and conducted a total of 17 billion KRW in direct and indirect investments including contributions to excellent venture capital funds. This year, leveraging the various deal sourcing and co-investment collaboration systems established through last year’s Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) activities, it plans to expand the scale of direct and indirect investments by more than double. The policy is to focus on increasing direct investments to secure future growth engines.

Kim Jihyun, Head of Strategic Planning, said, “Based on the CVC activities carried out last year, this year we plan to proactively engage in direct and indirect investments to preemptively secure future growth engines and strengthen differentiated competitiveness. Along with strategic direct investments in core categories such as fashion, living, beauty, health functional food, and tech, we will also continue to contribute to excellent venture capital funds to secure a diverse portfolio.”