Danal Secures 110 Billion Won Funding... "Expanding Strategic Business and Increasing New Investments"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Danal, a specialized company in integrated payment business, announced on the 2nd that it secured a large-scale fund of approximately 110 billion KRW through the sale of shares held by investment institutions. Based on this, it plans to significantly expand its strategic businesses and proactively secure new investment destinations.

Danal participated in the equity investment of the internet-only bank K-Bank in 2017. Recently, it sold all its shares, securing about 67 billion KRW. Additionally, Danal Entertainment sold its shares in Dunamu, which was valued at 20 trillion KRW, securing about 50 billion KRW. Danal Entertainment initially invested in Dunamu in 2013 through the K-Cube No.1 Venture Investment Association.

The secured large-scale funds will be used to expand the global market of payment services centered on Paycoin and to invest in affiliates and external new businesses. Based on the innovative payment-based ecosystem created by Danal, the company plans to invest in platform businesses directly related to consumers' daily lives such as commerce, content, and finance, aiming to establish itself as a leading comprehensive financial platform company in the new normal era connecting the virtual world and real life.

Above all, Paycoin has succeeded in securing 2 million domestic users and about 100,000 affiliated merchants, and is currently advancing global service upgrades in Japan, Southeast Asia, and other regions. It is expected that the funds secured this time will play a strong supporting role in settling in overseas markets, raising expectations.

Also, Danal officials stated that various convergence services will be promoted to create real value in the rapidly growing metaverse and non-fungible token (NFT) related markets based on blockchain technology. Representative examples include integrating NFTs into the metaverse platform ‘Jeff World’ launching in the first half of next year to implement a financial life community called Ground that enhances transaction reliability, and the content NFT platform ‘Danal Meta Market’ utilizing Danal Entertainment’s content business and technological capabilities.

A Danal official said, “We will efficiently manage the funds we hold with a ‘two-track strategy’ that accelerates ongoing projects and proactively invests in new businesses,” adding, “In addition to metaverse and NFTs, we will diversify investments in recently spotlighted businesses such as BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) and DeFi (Decentralized Finance) to globally expand the Danal payment ecosystem.”