[IPO Spotlight] DearU, a Virtual Space to Meet Artists

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyungsoo Park] Fan messenger platform company DearU is set to raise a large amount of funds through an initial public offering (IPO). Among the raised funds, 46 billion KRW will be invested in recruiting world-renowned singers and sports stars. The company presented a blueprint to increase the recognition of 'DearU bubble,' a service that recruits stars with many fans worldwide, and to develop it into a global platform.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system on the 5th, DearU will issue 3.3 million new shares to list on the KOSDAQ market. The expected public offering price range is 18,000 to 24,000 KRW, raising at least 59.4 billion KRW.

Founded in 2017, DearU operates the fan messenger platform DearU bubble and the karaoke application Everysing. DearU bubble is a personal messenger subscription service between celebrities and fans. Since its launch last year, it has secured over 1.2 million subscribers. Overseas sales account for 70% of its revenue. The company has contracts with 21 domestic entertainment agencies, including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, and FNC Entertainment, providing services with a total of 49 groups or solo artists. In the first half of this year, it achieved cumulative sales of 18.4 billion KRW and an operating profit of 6.6 billion KRW. The half-year sales have already surpassed last year's total sales of 13 billion KRW.

DearU plans to nurture DearU bubble into a metaverse platform using the funds raised from the IPO. To maintain the interest between celebrities and fans, the communication channels that previously took place in the DearU bubble chat rooms will be expanded to build a metaverse space where interactions can occur in virtual reality. The company will invest 12.4 billion KRW to create its own economic ecosystem in the metaverse world, enabling not only entertainment but also shopping and payment.

Departing from the conventional MD product planning that simply commercializes celebrities' photos and logos, DearU has established a strategy to collaborate with entertainment agencies participating in DearU bubble to sell emoticons and merchandise directly produced by celebrities.

DearU has decided to spend 46 billion KRW over the next three years to recruit famous celebrities and sports stars not only domestically but also overseas. Priority will be given to artists who have ranked high on the US Billboard charts or Japan's Oricon charts and have high recognition on social network services (SNS). Since recruiting globally famous artists requires paying an appropriate level of guarantee fees upfront, DearU plans to utilize the public offering funds for this purpose.