The Running and Gym Wear Brand Operator Backed by TheVentures with Seed Investment

Oblevue, which operates the functional athleisure wear brand 'Malden', has secured seed investment from TheVentures, a global early-stage venture capital firm.

TheVentures announced on August 18 that it had made a seed investment in Oblevue. Oblevue is a company that develops and manages the production of the running and gym wear brand Malden. All of its key personnel have backgrounds with apparel vendors, enabling them to oversee everything from yarn selection and material testing to post-processing. They possess material development capabilities and maintain a fully integrated value chain encompassing planning, manufacturing, and distribution, which enables them to deliver high functionality at reasonable prices, thus differentiating themselves in the market.

Recently, the focus of the domestic athleisure market has shifted from yoga wear to running wear. Industry sources estimate that the number of runners in Korea increased from 5 million in 2017 to 10 million last year. Over the past three years, search volume for running wear has increased up to fivefold. Unlike the yoga wear market, which was quickly consolidated by a handful of leading brands, the running wear segment is only now entering a phase where key brands are beginning to compete. Malden is targeting this market with a lineup that covers both running and gym wear.

Since launching the brand in May 2021, Oblevue has recorded a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 119% and surpassed KRW 9 billion in cumulative sales. The brand boasts a product satisfaction rating of 4.8, a re-purchase rate of 27% within 90 days, and a combined brand community of 160,000 members across its own website and official channels. Based on its direct-to-consumer (D2C) strategy, it has also achieved a gross margin of 60% and an operating margin of 10%, ensuring stable profitability.

In overseas markets, Oblevue has signed distribution agreements in Hong Kong and Singapore, launching online stores in each market in April and June, respectively. The company is also in the process of establishing a local subsidiary in Taiwan and securing a distributor in Malaysia. In the United States, Oblevue has launched collaborative products with the headquarters of the natural bodybuilding organization WNBF, which has branches in more than 50 countries worldwide, and sells them exclusively through its global online store.

Oblevue plans to use the new funding to expand its running wear lineup and establish an influencer seeding marketing team. Based on these initiatives, the company aims to grow into a global running wear brand.

Namho Lee, CEO of Oblevue, said, "While the sportswear market is shifting toward brand image, ultimately, products with superior comfort and fabric quality are what brings customers back. Leveraging our capabilities in material development, we will introduce a lineup that will satisfy every runner."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.