FuturePlay Raises 15 Billion KRW in Pre-IPO Funding

SM Entertainment, Home&Shopping, KT and Others Participate in Investment

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] FuturePlay (CEO Ryu Jung-hee) announced on the 13th that it has completed pre-IPO funding worth 15 billion KRW ahead of its initial public offering (IPO). The company valuation recognized in this pre-IPO is said to have reached 200 billion KRW.

FuturePlay is a startup accelerator established in 2013. It leads the discovery, nurturing, early investment, and the establishment of open innovation systems with large corporations for technology-based startups. It has invested in about 190 companies to date. In May last year, it completed a Series B investment round worth 10 billion KRW, participated by LX International, DB Financial Investment, Profit Asset Management, and Data Solution.

This investment round included participation from SM Entertainment, Home&Shopping, Redhill Asset Management, DS Asset Management, and KT. FuturePlay recorded operating revenue (sales) of 57 billion KRW and net profit of 35.86 billion KRW last year. Based on this pre-IPO, FuturePlay plans to challenge the IPO. Through this, it aims to contribute to the expansion of the startup investment ecosystem and lay the foundation to proactively invest more in valuable future startups.

Ryu Jung-hee, CEO of FuturePlay, said, "As a hub connecting startups and large corporations, FuturePlay’s existing shareholders have been strong supporters of the FuturePlay ecosystem, not just simple financial investors." He added, "The investors participating in this pre-IPO round are market leaders with expertise in various fields such as entertainment, commerce, and telecommunications networks, and we expect them to continuously support and participate in the new startup platform that FuturePlay will create after the IPO."

Meanwhile, FuturePlay has selected Daishin Securities as the lead manager and has begun full-scale preparations aiming for an IPO within this year. It plans to submit a preliminary review application aiming for a listing in the second half of the year.

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