[Edaily Marketin JI YEONG-EUI Reporter] AsWeMake, the operator of “QMarket,” an online grocery ordering and delivery platform, has been embroiled in allegations of fraud while seeking to secure an additional 50 billion won in investment. This came after a new investor, while reviewing the company’s financial and operational status, discovered irregularities in various documents—including those related to business partners, sales figures, and bank balances—that form the basis for investment decisions. Following the outbreak of the controversy, CEO Son Su-young, the company’s founder, submitted his resignation, and it has been confirmed that the Chief Financial Officer (CFO), who oversaw the company’s finances, has already left the company.

This incident is expected to have implications beyond just As We Make, affecting investment due diligence practices across the venture capital (VC) market. This is because verification procedures are likely to become much more rigorous—moving beyond relying solely on financial and audit documents submitted by investee companies to include direct verification of major business partners and cross-checking the authenticity of bank balances and revenue figures. In the investment industry, there is speculation that this case could further raise the bar for early-stage and growth-stage companies to secure funding, especially given the already conservative sentiment toward new investments.

Even a ‘Veteran Investment Banker’ CFO Has Left… Reliability of Financial Data Comes Under Scrutiny

According to an E-Daily report and sources in the investment banking (IB) industry on the 10th, Mr. A, the CFO of As We Make, recently resigned. With the reliability of the company’s financial statements emerging as the central issue in this situation, the fact that the executive in charge of financial operations has left the company has drawn attention to the exact timing of Mr. A’s resignation and his role during his tenure.

Mr. A joined As We Make last October and had been in charge of the company’s financial operations. His career included stints as an analyst at Samsung Securities’ Research Center and in its Investment Banking Center, followed by roles as a director at Atinum Investment, head of the PE team at HMC Investment Securities, head of the Investment Division at Hwaitech Investment, and managing director at I-One Venture Capital. He subsequently served as Head of Division at TimeWise Investment and, from 2019 to 2022, as CEO of NH Venture Investment, before moving on to become CFO of Nua Entertainment. He is a veteran who has gained extensive experience across the entire investment industry, including investment banking at securities firms, private equity (PE), and venture capital (VC).

It has not been confirmed whether Mr. A was directly involved in the preparation of the financial documents in question or the process of submitting them to investors. E-Daily attempted to confirm with Mr. A the exact date of his resignation, his role in the process of raising 50 billion won in investment, and whether he prepared or reviewed the financial documents; however, he declined to provide further comment, stating, “Since I have left that company, I have nothing to say.”

Founder and CEO Son is also stepping down from management. On the 7th, As We Make announced that CEO Son is resigning from his positions as CEO and director to clarify the objective facts regarding the recently raised issues concerning financial and management documents and to facilitate the company’s normalization process. CEO Son submitted a written resignation on the 5th and is scheduled to be completely excluded from fund disbursement, the preparation and review of accounting documents, personnel matters, and major decision-making as soon as the resignation process is finalized.

Growth Company That Raised 26 Billion Won Faces Allegations of ‘Falsified Growth’

This situation came to light as AsWeMake was pursuing a large-scale additional investment of approximately 50 billion won to scale up its operations. AsWeMake has expanded its operations by leveraging an online ordering and delivery network that connects offline grocery stores with consumers. Starting with a Series A round (5 billion won) in November 2022, the company raised a cumulative total of 26 billion won, including a Series B round (11 billion won) in September 2024 and a Series C round (10 billion won) in June of last year. Numerous major venture capital firms, including New Paradigm Investment, LB Investment, JB Investment, We Ventures, and Partners Investment, are listed as major shareholders.

The company subsequently attempted to raise 50 billion won in new funding—double its previous cumulative investment—but it was determined that new investors raised questions about the company’s financial health during the initial due diligence process to verify its valuation and financial status. This was due to evidence of misrepresentation in the client data submitted by the company. Upon verification with some of the clients listed in the financial statements, it was reported that these companies responded to the effect that “we have never conducted business with As We Make.”

Sales figures that were unusually high compared to industry peers also proved to be a stumbling block. As the scope of the verification expanded, evidence suggesting discrepancies between the sales figures presented by the company and actual business relationships was discovered one after another. Furthermore, as it was confirmed that the bank statements submitted to investors did not match the actual account balances, doubts have been cast on the company’s quantitative data as a whole.

Evidence Suggests

Original Audit Report Was Altered… Investment Firms Launch Legal Action

Suspicions have even spread to allegations of forgery of audit-related documents bearing the accounting firm’s name. It was discovered that some figures and content in the materials obtained by the investment firms did not match the originals prepared by the accounting firm in question. When the investment firms directly inquired with the accounting firm—which had prepared As We Make’s audit report—regarding the facts, the firm reportedly explained that it “had never issued a report in the format requested for verification.”

The investment firms strongly suspect that the figures and certain details listed in the original audit report prepared by the accounting firm may have been arbitrarily altered or inflated during the process of being conveyed to investors. Existing investors have completely suspended further investment procedures and have begun verifying the company’s actual financial condition and the use of existing investment funds through an external accounting audit. Some investors have initiated legal action, including filing criminal complaints against CEO Son and others on charges of fraud. The company has denied the allegations of embezzlement but has stated that it is currently verifying the facts regarding certain issues related to sales and financial data.

With plans for a 50 billion won new investment on hold and the CEO and CFO having left the company, an external accounting audit is expected to verify the company’s actual financial condition, the use of existing investment funds, and the circumstances surrounding the preparation of the materials presented to investors. Depending on the results of this audit, the scope of efforts to recover existing investment funds and subsequent legal actions is likely to vary.