Wrtn Raises KRW 100 Billion in Series C, Becomes AI Unicorn
IT DAILY ·
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Wrtn Technologies said it had secured KRW 100 billion in Series C funding.
With this investment, its cumulative fundraising reached about KRW 230 billion, and it was valued at more than KRW 1 trillion, becoming the first unicorn among domestic AI service platform startups.
Wrtn plans to pursue global market expansion and service advancement while strengthening its user protection system institutionally.
Wrtn Technologies said on the 26th that it had secured KRW 100 billion in Series C funding. With this investment, its cumulative fundraising has reached about KRW 230 billion.
Coreline Ventures and Eugene Asset Management joined the round as new investors. Existing investors Goodwater Capital, Antler Global, Woori Venture Partners, Suije Generis Partners, Korea Development Bank, and Capstone Partners also took part.
With this funding round, Wrtn was valued at more than KRW 1 trillion, becoming the first unicorn company among domestic AI service platform startups.
Wrtn said that OOC, an AI entertainment content platform launched in North America last May, surpassed KRW 10 billion in monthly sales just 3 months after its launch. Fueled by this North America-centered overseas business growth, overseas sales have overtaken domestic sales.
Based on this, Wrtn plans to accelerate its push into global markets and advance its services. The company expects total sales this year to exceed KRW 200 billion, following total sales of KRW 47.1 billion last year.
As it expands its services, Wrtn is also strengthening its user protection system institutionally in line with its policy of bolstering user protection, safety, and reliability. Last month, it officially launched a "User Committee" made up of experts in AI ethics, philosophy, cognition, psychology, and law, and it is also participating in efforts led by the Korea Internet Self-governance Organization (KISO) to establish the "Autonomous Regulation Guidelines for AI Character Chatbot Services."
Wrtn, which offers the AI entertainment content platform Crack, is preparing to further strengthen its youth protection policies, given that teenagers account for about 10% of its users. The youth protection measures under review for Crack include setting limits on usage time, strengthening parental consent procedures, and lowering payment caps, and the company plans to announce a comprehensive set of enhanced protection policies after drawing up detailed plans.
Regarding these operational and business results, Osk Honda, co-founder and partner at Coreline Ventures, said Wrtn's platform is leading the consumer AI movement amid a trend that is transforming how people create, communicate, and spend time online. He also said the combination of Wrtn's growth momentum, rapid monetization, and its impact on the ecosystems in Korea, Japan, and the United States is a rare case.
Wrtn CEO Lee Se-young said the company will focus on global expansion and service advancement as its future operating direction. He said the company plans to meet market expectations, aim to become a safe and trustworthy AI service company, and pursue even faster growth.
Source: IT DAILY · Yang Seung-gab
Original: https://www.itdaily.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=241201
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Source: IT DAILY
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