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Woowa Brothers
Woowa Brothers launched in 2010 after founder Bong-jin Kim, a former designer, identified a gap in Korean food culture: no reliable mobile delivery.
Woowa Brothers
Woowa Brothers launched in 2010 after founder Bong-jin Kim, a former designer, identified a gap in Korean food culture: no reliable mobile delivery. Its flagship app, Baedal Minjok, became the dominant player, processing more than 100 million orders monthly by the time Berlin-based Delivery Hero acquired an 88% stake in December 2019, valuing the business at $4 billion. Kim's personal wealth and Woowa's balance sheet stem from this transaction and his remaining equity in the combined entity. The firm's investment activity operates from a corporate balance sheet, blending venture-stage equity with strategic partnership capital. Confirmed positions include backing for Korean food-tech and logistics startups, with co-investors regularly including Altos Ventures. The group also incubated Terra Alliance, a restaurant-technology partnership. Geographic reach extends from Seoul to Vietnam and Singapore, where Kim has placed bets through Delivery Hero's regional footprint and his own personal vehicle. Deal structures range from direct equity to SPVs alongside early-stage VC rounds. Woowa operates from its Songpa-gu headquarters, with a secondary commercial hub in Busan and a leasehold at Tower 730 in Jamsil. Kim's design and art interests are held separately, and he co-signed The Giving Pledge with his wife Bomi Sul in 2021, the first South Koreans to do so. He also chairs the Korea Startup Forum. In early 2025, Kim stepped back from day-to-day management of Delivery Hero's Asian operations to focus on his investment and philanthropic vehicles. Structurally, Woowa Brothers is not a family office in the traditional sense but a corporate investor with an activist founder's capital influence. Because Kim's stake in Delivery Hero gives him both liquidity and board-level visibility into global food-tech trends, his deal flow combines operator-driven origination with the kind of top-of-funnel access usually reserved for full-time VCs — a hybrid posture rare among Asian tech founders.
General information
Firm type
Corporate Investor
Year founded
2010
Location
Region
Asia
Country
South Korea
City
Seoul
Corporate office
Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Additional offices
Busan, South Korea · Berlin, Germany
Principals
Bong-jin Kim
Founder
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who makes investment decisions at Woowa Brothers?
Founder Bong-jin Kim drives the investment strategy personally. He stepped back from Delivery Hero's operational management in early 2025 to concentrate on allocating his liquidity and Woowa's corporate capital. The firm does not publicly list a separate CIO or investment committee, and deal flow is closely tied to Kim's own network and the board relationships formed through Delivery Hero's global platform.
How does Woowa Brothers source deals?
Proprietary deal flow comes through Kim's operator network in Seoul's startup ecosystem and his chairman role at the Korea Startup Forum. The Delivery Hero relationship provides visibility into global food-tech and last-mile logistics trends, giving the firm early looks at Asian startups before they raise Series A rounds. Co-investor Altos Ventures has also been a repeat partner, sourcing deals in early-stage Korean tech.
Is Woowa Brothers a family office or a corporate venture arm?
It operates as a hybrid. The investment entity uses Woowa Brothers' corporate balance sheet alongside Kim's personal capital, but it is not walled off as a formal family office. The structure gives it the flexibility of a founder-led allocation vehicle with the origination advantages of a strategic corporate investor embedded in the food-tech supply chain.
What is the relationship between Woowa Brothers and Delivery Hero?
Delivery Hero acquired an 88% stake in Woowa Brothers in December 2019 for $4 billion. Kim retained a significant minority position and continued to oversee Asian operations until early 2025. The two firms share strategic alignment but Woowa's investment decisions are made independently, with Kim managing allocations from his liquidity and the Korean entity's balance sheet.
Where does Kim Bong-jin's wealth come from?
His wealth originated from building Baedal Minjok into South Korea's largest food-delivery platform and selling a majority stake to Delivery Hero for $4 billion in 2019. He retained equity in the combined group, and his net public commitments include co-signing The Giving Pledge alongside his wife, Bomi Sul, in 2021.
Does Woowa Brothers co-invest alongside external GPs?
Yes. The firm regularly co-invests alongside early-stage venture capital funds, most visibly Altos Ventures, which was an early backer of Woowa Brothers itself. These co-investments appear in Korean tech rounds, often in logistics, food-tech, and enterprise software startups expanding across Southeast Asia.
What philanthropic structures are tied to the Kim family wealth?
Bong-jin Kim and Bomi Sul became the first South Koreans to join The Giving Pledge in 2021, publicly committing the majority of their wealth to charitable causes. While they have not established a named foundation on the scale of Western Giving Pledge signatories, their philanthropy flows through direct giving vehicles aligned with Korean education and entrepreneurship.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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