South Korean food delivery firm acquires Vietnammm

Vietnammm’s Facebook fanpage changed to Baemin Vietnam starting early this week. Vietnammm said it would continue to operate alongside Baemin Vietnam until further notice.

Woowa Brothers, the South Korean firm that owns Korean delivery platform Baedal Minjok and its subsidiary Baemin, acquired Vietnammm in February.

Woowa Brothers raised $320 million in 2018 and became a South Korean unicorn startup with a valuation of $2.6 billion. The company said it would use the new capital to expand into foreign markets including Vietnam.

Founded in February 2011, Vietnammm is one of the pioneering players in Vietnam’s food delivery sector.

Backed by the Netherlands’ Takeaway.com, the startup acquired Foodpanda’s Vietnam operations in 2015.

New player Beamin will face strong competition from local and foreign firms in Vietnam’s crowded delivery market.

The market heated up with the entrance of GrabFood in June last year. As of January, Grab said its service has seen the number of orders surged 25 times.

Go-Viet, an affiliate of Indonesia’s Go-Jek, and local firm Now are holding regular promotions to gain greater market shares.

The potential of food delivery service remains strong, observers say. A recent survey of 600 food delivery app users showed that 99 percent of them ordered food online 2-3 times a month, according to local market research firm GCOMM.

Vietnam’s food delivery market was worth about $33 million last year and is expected to top $38 million next year, according to market research firm Euromonitor.