Kakao Entertainment, which runs a stable of apps that publish popular online animated shows and novels, will use the capital to expand its content. The company produces a slate of shows for Netflix Inc., capitalizing on booming interest for Korean content from K-pop to movies since the advent of “Squid Game.”
Kakao Entertainment Corp. has won US$930 million ($1.24 billion) from investors including Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, securing one of the country’s largest-ever financing rounds at a time global investors are shying away from big startup bets.
The company, a unit of Korean social media giant Kakao Corp., said it’s raising 1.2 trillion won ($1.28 billion) by issuing about 2.26 million shares at 255,116 won apiece to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund and Singapore’s Pwarp Investment, an investment vehicle of GIC Pte.
