Editor’s Note
Hidden News, a New York-based global jewelry e-commerce platform, has announced the completion of its seed funding round. The investment consortium includes prominent Korean financial institutions and venture capital firms.
Hidden News, a company operating a global jewelry cross-border commerce business centered in New York, USA, has secured seed round investment from Korea Omega Investment & Finance, Bigbang Angels, Woori Financial Capital, and Shinhan Venture Investment. The investment amount was not disclosed.
Hidden News is a startup founded by CEO Kim Tae-hyung, who has been operating jewelry stores in New York and California, USA, and London, UK, since 2015. CEO Kim started Hidden News with the vision of leading a commerce business that sets global jewelry trends in the US market, the center of the world, while collaborating with over 150 local designer brands globally.
Even competitive overseas jewelry brands are hesitant to enter the US market due to a lack of market information, stringent conditions for direct entry, and excessive capital requirements. CEO Kim stated that he started the business with this awareness of the problem and the belief that there was a lack of jewelry online/offline curated shops capable of meeting the broad design demands of American consumers.
The US jewelry market is expected to be driven by growth in demi-fine jewelry and the online market. Demi-fine jewelry is an intermediate category between high-priced Fine Jewelry, which uses precious metals, and ‘Fashion Jewelry’, which uses imitation gemstones. It is characterized by designs using sterling silver, 14-18K gold plating, and gold combined with natural stones. It is gaining attention as high-purchasing-power millennials in the US seek products with high utility, reasonable price points, and high quality.
Hidden News specializes in demi-fine jewelry. It has secured partnerships with over 150 designer brands from Europe and Korea and also sells its own in-house designed brand products at its Miliemoon store in Soho, New York, and through its online store. The company achieved a high sales profit margin through about a year of market testing and demonstrated sales growth potential based on its global sourcing experience, successfully attracting seed investment.