[IPO] Obzen "Surpassing 46 Billion KRW in 2024 Sales with Big Data and AI Martech Technology"

Marketing + Technology Solutions Specialist
New Solutions Launched for Mid-sized and Small Businesses
Strengthening Collaboration with Second Largest Shareholder Naver Cloud

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Martech (Marketing + Technology) specialist Obzen is knocking on the door of KOSDAQ. Obzen revealed its vision to exceed KRW 46 billion in sales by 2024 after listing.

On the 6th, CEO Lee Hyung-in of Obzen held a press conference in Yeouido, Seoul, to introduce the company ahead of its KOSDAQ listing. / Photo by Obzen

On the 6th, CEO Lee Hyung-in of Obzen held a press conference in Yeouido, Seoul, for the KOSDAQ listing and said, “We have differentiated solution competitiveness based on marketing know-how accumulated in the large enterprise market and proprietary technology,” adding, “We will lead the Martech market and achieve continuous high growth through solution development and new business entry that can actively respond to market changes.”

Founded in 2000, Obzen operates a marketing solution development business applying big data and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies. Its main solutions include marketing automation, Martech, integrated standardization, and data-marketing combined solutions.

Martech is a compound word of Marketing and Technology, referring to solutions that implement hyper-personalized marketing by applying big data and AI technology to marketing.

Obzen’s marketing automation solution digitizes the entire marketing process from customer data collection, analysis, planning, design, execution, to performance analysis, enhancing work efficiency and marketing outcomes. The company developed Martech solutions as the next growth engine by advancing its marketing automation solutions.

The sales proportion of Martech solutions has continuously grown from 30.6% of the total in 2019 to 60.6% in the third quarter of last year.

CEO Lee Hyung-in said, “The market trend of hyper-personalized marketing translating into tangible corporate performance continues,” and “Market interest in tech solutions is expected to steadily expand.”

Obzen’s clients are large domestic corporations across various industries such as finance, telecommunications, distribution, and fashion. Obzen is building long-term trust relationships with clients by pursuing solution advancement and expansion strategies.

After listing, the company plans to launch new solutions for not only large enterprises but also mid-sized and small businesses. Currently, two new solutions have been developed. The first is the integrated standardization solution ‘obzen Daisy Suite.’ It costs less and can provide services in a short period compared to existing solutions, making it accessible for small and mid-sized companies without burden.

The second is the data-marketing combined solution ‘obzen Persona Insight.’ It supports discovering data insights for creative marketing by comparing and combining internal and external data of client companies. Both solutions will also be released as SaaS (subscription-based solutions).

Obzen continues to invest in research and development. The R&D investment amount relative to sales has averaged 19.1% since 2019, exceeding the domestic leading ICT (Information and Communication Technology) companies’ average of 12.4%. Going forward, the company plans to make proactive investments in core technologies of solutions such as big data, AI, and SaaS to secure mid- to long-term high-growth momentum.

Additionally, Obzen plans to boost sales through strengthened collaboration with its second-largest shareholder, Naver Cloud. Both companies are jointly developing ‘hyper-personalized marketing solutions based on the Naver Cloud platform’ and ‘business insight derivation solutions for corporate clients using Naver Cloud Data Box.’

Both solutions are being developed in SaaS format, and marketing will be promoted targeting Naver Shopping merchants, with plans to jointly expand sales to overseas markets.

Obzen aims to achieve KRW 46.7 billion in sales by 2024 after listing. Since 2021, it has recorded an average annual growth rate of 32.6%, and it aspires to continue this growth trend. The company plans to increase the proportion of high value-added technology-based sales to improve profitability.

CEO Lee said, “Technology-based sales composed of cloud usage fees, technology fees, and licenses have shown an average annual growth rate of 63.6% since 2021 and are expected to increase to KRW 17.8 billion by 2024,” adding, “The sales proportion is expected to rise from 20.2% in 2021 to 38.1% in 2024.”

Meanwhile, Obzen’s total number of public offering shares is 775,956, with a desired public offering price per share of KRW 18,000 to 24,000. The company plans to raise approximately KRW 18.6 billion through this offering, and the funds will be used for IT equipment investment for solution development and operation, solution R&D, data purchase costs, and SaaS operation costs. The demand forecast is scheduled for the 10th to 11th, and the general subscription will be held on the 16th to 17th. The lead manager is Korea Investment & Securities.