[Exclusive] Bogoplay Created by Live Commerce Experts to Cut Workforce by 70%

Liquidity Crisis Due to Series A Funding Depletion from Cutthroat Competition
Delays in Payments to Partners and Other Issues

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] VOGO Play, the operator of the live commerce platform ‘VOGO,’ is undergoing a large-scale restructuring. Although it attracted attention as a business model where products can be sold and purchased in real time, it is now interpreted as having ultimately faced limitations.

According to industry sources on the 18th, VOGO Play has begun a reduction process to cut its current staff of about 100 employees down to the 30s. Most employees, except for the minimum personnel centered on C-level executives, are subject to restructuring. It is evaluated that the scale of cuts has gone beyond just reducing some business unit personnel or merging departments. The company will soon undergo rehabilitation procedures.

An industry insider said, “VOGO Play is considered one of the top three domestic mobile live commerce companies along with Grip Company and Mobidou,” adding, “It has established its position by selling various brands’ products at ultra-discounted prices.” He continued, “The domestic live commerce market size is expected to reach tens of trillions of won, which drew attention. However, competition has become fierce, putting the company in a precarious state.”

VOGO Play, which started as Samsung Electronics’ in-house venture program C-Lab and was established in October 2019, continued its steep growth by renewing and reopening the VOGO app in August of the following year. VOGO is a live shopping platform where consumers communicate via chat and trade products in real time. It offers products at the lowest price and ultra-discounted prices during live broadcasts.

Experts from various industries such as Samsung Electronics, Gmarket, 11st, Lotte Home Shopping, and TMON operate the service. The problem is cutthroat competition. Not only VOGO Play but various players are entering the live commerce field. Portal sites, YouTube, and large corporations with their own distribution networks are steadily stepping into the market. Price competition pressure inevitably intensified.

VOGO Play raised Series A investment in May last year. At that time, the pre-valuation was recognized at 100 billion to 130 billion won. It secured a total of 11 billion won from domestic investors such as POSCO Technology Investment, DT&I Investment, SK Securities, IBK Industrial Bank, and Japanese venture capital (VC) Colopl Next. In addition, CNT Tech, Inlight Ventures, and DA Value Investment were named as financial investors (FI).

The FIs highly evaluated VOGO Play’s growth potential. Competitor Grip Company, acquired by Kakao in 2021, recorded a transaction amount of about 80 billion won at the time but was valued at 400 billion won. Accordingly, VOGO Play was also expected to increase in value by recording similar growth.

However, as a result, the FIs are now in a situation where they have to worry about losses. VOGO Play has already exhausted most of the Series A investment funds. Meanwhile, it is delaying payments to partner companies that sell through the platform. The industry is on high alert for the possibility of it becoming a ‘second Today’s Fish’ (a reference to a failed company).