[IPO] Dotmill "Aiming to be Korea's Disney... The Only Immersive Media Theme Park in the Country"

by Jang Hyowon

Published 30 Oct.2024 13:37(KST)

Jung Hae-woon, CEO of Dotmill.

Dotmill, a theme park specialist company based on immersive media, is entering the KOSDAQ market. After listing, Dotmill revealed its vision to enter the global theme park market based on its own intellectual property (IP), ‘Dotmill Universe’.

On the 30th, Haewoon Jeong, CEO of Dotmill, held a press conference in Yeouido, Seoul, unveiling growth strategies for entering the global theme park market. Dotmill plans to be listed on the KOSDAQ market in November.

Founded in 2015, Dotmill has secured differentiated competitiveness by utilizing immersive media technology across various business sectors including B2B (business-to-business), B2G (business-to-government), and B2C (business-to-consumer). In particular, its theme park business leveraging self-developed IP is rapidly growing by providing unforgettable experiences to customers through outstanding technology and creative content. Based on rich experience, Dotmill internalizes all processes from planning to marketing to enhance efficiency and quickly responds to market changes through continuous content updates.

Dotmill gained recognition for its technological capabilities by successfully executing numerous large-scale projects such as the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, the 70th anniversary commemoration of the Korean War, and Tongyeong Dipirang. Especially, ‘Dipirang,’ which created a new city by applying immersive media technology to idle spaces, became a representative tourist attraction in Tongyeong even during the pandemic in 2021, drawing significant attention. It was selected as one of Korea’s Top 100 Tourist Attractions for 2023-2024, acknowledging its value and presenting new possibilities for urban regeneration using immersive media technology.

Dotmill is receiving enthusiastic interest from customers by successfully operating various B2C theme parks such as Lunapol, Glow Safari, OPCI, and Water World. It was recognized for its innovation and design management capabilities by receiving the Presidential Citation for Venture Startup Promotion and the Prime Minister’s Citation at the Korea Design Awards in 2022. In 2023, Dotmill earned an A grade in the mock technology evaluation for special listing and a TI-2 grade in the investment technology evaluation by NICE Information Service, proving its excellent content planning and directing capabilities. This year, it was selected as an Innovation Icon company by the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund and holds 25 technology patents related to immersive media, securing its technological prowess.

Dotmill is also actively advancing globally. It is making visible progress in the global market by establishing ‘Ice Jungle’ in Phu Quoc, Vietnam, and being selected as the preferred negotiator to develop ‘Glow Safari’ in the Clark area of the Philippines. Additionally, it plans to expand overseas licensing of its IP theme parks mainly in Asian markets such as Hong Kong and Japan.

A Dotmill representative stated, “Dotmill is expanding its theme park business using proprietary immersive media technology that fuses real spaces with digital technology, distinct from metaverse or VFX, based on its own IP, opening new possibilities in the global theme park market. The funds raised through this IPO will be invested in expanding new theme park facilities using our IP, and especially for small and medium-sized facilities, we are exploring various business opportunities in cooperation with local governments that own large shopping malls in Korea.”

Haewoon Jeong, CEO of Dotmill, said, “Along with the growth of the immersive media industry, we want to expand our business areas into more diverse fields based on Dotmill’s unique worldview to provide customers with new experiences and value. We will continue to showcase differentiated content based on our core technologies and grow into a leading company in the global entertainment market.”

He added, “In particular, taking Walt Disney Imagineering as a role model, Dotmill’s goal is to leap forward as Korea’s representative digital theme park company and provide unforgettable experiences to people worldwide.”

Meanwhile, Dotmill’s sales last year amounted to 18.8 billion KRW, with an operating profit of 800 million KRW. Having successfully diversified its immersive media-based business model, it has maintained a steady high growth rate with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38.8% over the past four years (2020?2023).

Through this listing, Dotmill plans to offer a total of 1.2 million shares with a public offering price range of 11,000 KRW to 13,000 KRW per share, aiming for a total public offering amount between 13.2 billion KRW and 15.6 billion KRW. The demand forecast will be conducted from the 24th to the 30th of this month targeting domestic and foreign institutional investors, and the general public subscription will take place over two days on the 4th and 5th of next month. Mirae Asset Securities is in charge of the listing underwriting.