Park Tae-hoon, CEO of Watcha, "Pursuing IPO This Year... No Plans for Sale" (Comprehensive)

'Watcha 2.0' Vision Announcement
Algorithm-Based Recommendations Expanded to Music, Webtoon, and Entertainment
Global Expansion... Appointment of IPO Underwriter

Park Tae-hoon, CEO of Watcha, is explaining the vision of 'Watcha 2.0' at the '2022 Watcha Media Day' held on the 22nd at the Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul. Photo by Cha Min-young

[Asia Economy Reporters Lim Hye-seon and Cha Min-young] Park Tae-hoon, CEO of Watcha, is executing the 'Watcha 2.0' vision to expand Watcha's identity as a big data analysis-based algorithm recommendation service into music, webtoon, and entertainment businesses this year. Building on the confidence gained in Japan, the company plans to enter the global business stage and pursue an initial public offering (IPO) for fundraising. Regarding the possibility of selling the company, he drew a clear line, stating, "There are no plans."

As a comprehensive entertainment platform…"Thousands of billions invested over several years"

On the 22nd, CEO Park Tae-hoon held a press conference at the Glad Hotel in Yeouido, Seoul, during the '2022 Watcha Media Day,' revealing these content growth plans.

The new vision Watcha pursues is an integrated entertainment subscription platform that adds music and webtoon subscriptions to the online streaming service Watcha. Previously, Watcha emerged as a major domestic content platform through the content recommendation service WatchaPedia launched in 2011 and the OTT Watcha released in 2016 based on it. COO Won Ji-hyun stated, "The core of content is retention (subscription retention rate)," adding, "While everyone was obsessed with inflated indicators like monthly active users (MAU), we focused on retention, which led to meaningful revenue."

The key is not merely to gather content from various categories but to provide an integrated and continuous content consumption experience that transcends content boundaries without segmentation. After watching a movie, users can listen to music that reflects on the lingering emotions and enjoy review webtoons interpreting the film. 'Watcha 2.0' plans to adopt an 'all-in-one subscription plan' that allows unlimited enjoyment of all content at once. The subscription price is yet to be determined.

Through the Watcha 2.0 strategy, the newly entered music and webtoon businesses will also employ Watcha's unique strategies differentiated from existing industries. While maximizing synergy with video content, the plan is to support creators' diverse creative activities through a new form of subscription business model. Watcha is currently producing original webtoon-video content with writer Kim Botong and preparing original webtoons with famous webtoon artists such as Seo Narae, Ludovico, Kim Yang-su, and Sunnyside Up.

When asked about the scale of investment for content acquisition, he said, "The traditional blockbuster formula involving large-scale investments seems to belong to the era of TV and theaters," adding, "Now, the OTT market is shifting to a market that values efficiency." However, he also revealed, "We have plans for a certain scale of investment and are planning to invest thousands of billions of won over several years."

Overseas expansion… IPO also underway

Won Ji-hyun, COO of Watcha, giving a presentation

Watcha is also venturing overseas. CEO Park Tae-hoon set a goal to become a global platform with 100 million subscribers worldwide by 2030. He said, "Watcha 2.0, which maximizes content value and diversity based on data to satisfy individual tastes, is a competitive differentiator even in overseas markets," adding, "Carrying K-content on our platform to the global stage and securing global data is a value beyond just making money." Watcha became the first domestic OTT company to enter the overseas market by launching services in Japan in 2020. However, specific countries and timelines for expansion will be finalized and announced within the year.

Additionally, Watcha has formed a strategic partnership with Dunamu, a blockchain and fintech specialist company, to actively pursue the non-fungible token (NFT) business. NFTs issued from Watcha's content will be released on Upbit NFT.

To realize many of these plans, Watcha is also seeking funding. CEO Park said, "We have currently appointed an IPO underwriter and are in discussions with them," adding, "The exact timing is not confirmed but is expected as early as this year." He also noted, "There are no concrete details yet regarding a pre-IPO."

However, CEO Park intends to maintain Watcha's independent path despite fierce competition in the OTT market, including Netflix. He said, "There are market talks about the three OTT companies merging, but realistically, it is difficult," adding, "Watcha is often mentioned as a candidate for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and regularly receives external offers, but we are not considering a sale."

Meanwhile, Watcha's revenue last year was 72.3 billion won on a consolidated basis, an increase of about 82% compared to the previous year. CEO Park said, "We will be able to forecast more specific figures once the Watcha 2.0 subscription plan is released."

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