Krafton Weighs 100 Billion Won Bet on Short-Form Drama Firm Spoon Labs

Largest Shareholder Has Already Invested 140 Billion Won Company Sees Synergy Between Short-Form Content and Games Spoon Labs Targets 2028 Listing Round Could Raise Up to 200 Billion Won

Spoon Labs has launched a pre-IPO round targeting financial investors, according to investment banking sources on Oct. 11. The size of the round has yet to be finalized, but the market expects it to raise as much as 200 billion won. The company’s valuation is being discussed at around 400 billion won, and it aims to wrap up the fundraising this year.

Krafton, the company’s largest shareholder, is also in discussions to join the round with an investment of about 100 billion won, sources said. Krafton, the most valuable listed game company in South Korea by market capitalization, holds about a 43% stake in Spoon Labs. Spoon Labs is classified as an affiliate rather than a subsidiary of Krafton, so Krafton is not directly involved in its management.

Krafton first invested 120 billion won in 2024, its largest investment at the time in a non-core business. Late last year, it bought about 19 billion won worth of shares from existing shareholders, bringing its cumulative investment close to 140 billion won. Krafton cited the growth potential of the short-form drama market, the acquisition of new intellectual property and synergies with its existing businesses as reasons for the investment. That opens the door to turning its own game IP into dramas, or bringing drama IP proven on Vigloo into games.

Founded in 2013, Spoon Labs operates Spoon, a live audio platform, and Vigloo, a short-form drama app. The company plans to channel all proceeds from the pre-IPO round into Vigloo. Spoon, available in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan, is the profitable cash cow of the business. Vigloo, where users pay per episode to watch dramas, is growing revenue quickly but remains in the red, weighed down by heavy marketing spending to attract users. Despite Spoon’s earnings, Vigloo’s costs left Spoon Labs with an operating loss of 12.8 billion won on revenue of 68.4 billion won last year.

“With Krafton as the largest shareholder and expected to put in a substantial amount in this pre-IPO round as well, financial investors are interested,” an investment banking official said. “Over the long term, they see short-form content as a promising new business after games.” Spoon Labs began preparing for a listing in August, sending requests for proposals to major domestic securities firms to select underwriters for its initial public offering. It is targeting a 2028 listing, making this round likely its last external fundraising before going public.…Read more by Seoul Economic Daily