Leading Small and Medium Enterprise in VR Content Development
[Asia Economy Reporter Ji-hwan Park] Among the nine companies newly listed on the stock market this year, Hwang Dae-sil, CEO of Sconex, a metaverse (extended virtual world) and virtual reality (VR) company, ranked first as the richest shareholder among new listings. The estimated value of Hwang's shares exceeds 100 billion KRW, overwhelmingly surpassing the 50 billion KRW scale held by those ranked 2nd to 4th.
According to financial information provider FnGuide on the 18th, as of the previous day, Hwang's share value was 110.6 billion KRW, placing him 283rd in the overall ranking of shareholders in domestic listed companies.
Sconex is a company primarily engaged in the development and production of VR content. Although it is a small company with fewer than 60 employees, it is renowned in the industry as a strong small and medium-sized enterprise with world-class VR content implementation technology. After returning from Japan, where he worked in the gaming industry, CEO Hwang founded the company in 2002 and focused for over a decade on arcade games for game centers and console games like those for Nintendo. Since 2018, the company has expanded its business into extended reality (XR)-based metaverse platforms.
With solid technological capabilities and growth potential, Sconex successfully attracted multiple investments before going public. In August 2015, it secured 1 billion KRW in a Pre-A round, and in April 2018, it raised 24.1 billion KRW in a Series A round. Despite having numerous financial investors, they chose to support Sconex's mid- to long-term growth plans rather than cashing out through secondary share sales during the IPO. Currently, besides CEO Hwang who holds 34.9% of shares, financial investors such as Korea Investment Empord No.1 New Technology Venture Investment Association (11.8%), Empord-Sconex Individual Investment Association No.1 (8.9%), and Korea Development Bank (6.6%) collectively hold about 27% of the shares.
Choi Chan-wook, CEO of Auto&Co, is another case where share value surged most steeply after listing. The current stock price fluctuates around 16,000 KRW, more than three times the initial public offering price of 5,300 KRW. With the stock price rising over 200%, Choi's share value jumped from approximately 11.1 billion KRW at listing to 24.1 billion KRW. Auto&Co was established in 2012 as an internal venture of Hyundai Motor Group and later spun off as a developer and distributor of automotive products. Choi joined Kia Motors in 2000 and worked in overseas sales until 2008. In 2008, the 'Car Mart' project emerged as part of Hyundai Motor Group's internal startup contest, and Choi's team’s business plan was selected, marking the beginning of the journey with Auto&Co. About four years later, in 2012, Auto&Co spun off as a Hyundai Motor Group affiliate. Similar to Sconex, major financial investors including founding shareholders Hyundai and Kia Motors (13%), L&S Venture Capital, DSC Investment, KT Investment, and Samsung Venture Investment have refrained from secondary share sales, suggesting the company’s value will continue to grow post-listing.
Additionally, other first-time domestic stock market entrants this year who made it to the 50 billion KRW shareholder club include Kang Chan-ho, CEO of Easytronics (58.4 billion KRW), Kim Min-ho, Chairman of Narae Nanotech (50.8 billion KRW), and Jang Ji-sang, CEO of ASEMS (48.8 billion KRW).
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