Sesame-oil maker raises $1.3 million in new funds

Queens Bucket, a sesame-oil manufacturer, announced Monday that it secured 1.5 billion won ($1.3 million) in Series A funding from KDB Infrastructure Investments Asset Management, the state bank’s asset management arm.

The investment comes after the start-up began construction of a sesame oil mill in Dongdaemun District, central Seoul, for completion by February.

“We gained certainty about investing [in Queens Bucket] after seeing the factory that it is building now,” said a KDB spokesperson. “There is a demand for high-quality plant-based oil today.”

“The advantage of a mill in a city is that it can manufacture products for immediate consumption while facilitating communication,” said Park Jeong-yong, CEO of Queens Bucket.

“We will try to show the real ‘taste of Korea’ to the overseas tourists visiting Dongdaemun.”

Queens Bucket said it also received 500 million won from the Korea Technology Finance Corporation, a quasi-government agency, in a pre-Series A funding round.

The start-up, founded in 2012, specializes in making lightly roasted and cold pressed sesame and perilla oil.

Its products are available in major domestic department stores and grocery franchises, and are also being used as ingredients at a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York.

By Kim Eun-jin