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South Korea’s new unicorn Woowa Brothers, operator of the country’s leading food delivery platforms Baedal Minjok, has acquired Vietnam’s food delivery company Vietnammm, Deal Street Asia reported.
In 2015, Vietnammm acquired Foodpanda’s Vietnam operations from Rocket Internet.
Vietnammm, which received investment from the Netherlands’ global leading online delivery market place Takeaway.com, is one of the first food delivery companies to start operations in Vietnam. However, the local market has now been dominated by newcomers, including Now by Foody, and GrabFood.
The potential of this segment remains strong for more startups to grow, according a recent study on food delivery by local market research firm GCOMM. About 99% of respondents to its survey said they used online food delivery services at least three times a month.
GCOMM concluded that GrabFood is currently the fastest food delivery service provider in the country.
The six most popular apps in Vietnam are GrabFood, Now, GoFood, LaLa, Vietnammm and Lixi, according to the study.
Woowa Brothers is said to be eyeing the Vietnamese market since last year. The South Korean company, specializing in developing apps and advertising platforms, raised US$320 million from global investors in December 2018, which valued the company at US$2.6 billion. Investors of the round included Hillhouse Capital, Sequoia Capital and Singapore sovereign fund GIC.
The company has been investing in artificial intelligence and autonomous driving technology to develop delivery robot, according to Korean media.
It is expected to kick off Vietnamese operation in the first half of 2019. It is unclear whether Vietnammm will be rebranded and how Woowa Brothers will take over the business.
Vietnam’s food delivery market is valued at US$33 million and is forecast to reach US$38 million in 2020, according to Euromonitor.