K-pop fan engagement platform DearU eyes H2 listing

South Korea-based fan platform DearU Co. has filed a preliminary application to the Korea Exchange with plans for a trading debut on the country’s junior Kosdaq market in the second half of this year, the company announced on June 14.

DearU is held by SM Studios, a subsidiary of SM Entertainment, the label behind popular K-pop artists Red Velvet, EXO, NCT and Super Junior. Founded in 2017, the company operates various services such as a messaging service, DearU bubble; a smart karaoke app, Everysing; and a fan club service, Lysn.

The company's core business is the DearU bubble service where users can subscribe to receive private messages from K-pop artists. The service launched in 2020 and has since signed contracts with major labels including SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and FNC Entertainment to provide services from over 160 K-pop artists.

DearU also tapped into overseas markets by rolling out the DearU bubble service for JYP Entertainment's Japanese girl group, NiziU. Currently, foreign users account for 67% of the platform's total users.

Earlier this month, JYP Entertertainment acquired a 23.3% stake in DearU for around 13 billion won ($12 million) to secure a global mobile platform.

DearU plans to use the IPO proceeds to increase brand awareness, foray abroad and expand its platform services.

Last year, the company posted 13 billion won in revenue. In the first quarter of this year, DearU logged revenue of 8.9 billion won and an operating profit of 3.2 billion won.


Write to A-Young Yoon at youngmoney@hankyung.com
Danbee Lee edited this article.