The Onion, a South Korea-based company that operates a direct-from-farm produce fulfillment service, has secured a pre-Series A investment from New Paradigm Investment. The investment amount remains undisclosed.

Established in 2023, The Onion focuses on creating a sustainable and efficient environment for domestic agricultural production and consumption. The company aims to build a healthy direct trade system between farmers and consumers by innovating inefficient elements in agricultural distribution and operations.

While the Garak-dong Agricultural and Fisheries Market, a major hub for domestic agricultural distribution, handles over 80% of agricultural transactions in the Seoul-Gyeonggi region, its efficiency is compromised by a monopolistic structure centered around wholesale market corporations and a four-stage offline distribution system.

To address these issues, The Onion operates ‘PARADO’, a direct trade commerce platform, and ‘Voydo’, a real-time market price inquiry service, to resolve information asymmetry between producers and consumers. PARADO provides fresh produce at reasonable prices through specialized early morning delivery, while Voydo offers real-time agricultural price information to help consumers respond effectively to price fluctuations.

New Paradigm Investment decided to invest based on The Onion’s strong IT capabilities and nationwide scalability potential. CEO Jong-seok Choi, who has 15 years of experience as a food and agricultural procurement data analyst at WeMakePrice, Foodpang, and National Agricultural Cooperative Federation, leads a dream team of experts in both agriculture and IT.

The Onion has secured major distribution channels through a market dealer partnership with Seoul Gangseo Agricultural Market and focuses on improving distribution efficiency and strengthening quality and price competitiveness. The company has secured a supply chain partnership equivalent to 8% of annual transactions at Garak Market, with an average annual shipment of approximately 180,000 tons of major agricultural products including green onions, onions, radishes, and garlic.

Je-hyun Park, co-CEO of New Paradigm, stated, “PARADO is growing rapidly, achieving monthly sales of ₩100 million (USD 75,000). With the addition of a quant app service utilizing agricultural price data, high growth is expected. We are confident that the company will rapidly expand its market share through an integrated ‘online agricultural exchange’ based on agri-food data.”

CEO Jong-seok Choi said, “We aim to become a major player in the Gangseo market within five years, generating transactions worth approximately ₩90 billion (USD 67.5 million). We will secure a stable fresh produce supply chain through direct partnerships with verified producers and expand our value chain by targeting franchises and restaurant businesses as our main customers.”