This article was published on Feb. 17, 2025, at 2:46 p.m. on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove site.
Atinum Investment, a major domestic venture capital (VC) firm, will invest additional funds in the Japanese scheduling calendar platform TimeTree. After securing a 2% stake for about 5 billion won last year, it has been reported that the firm has recently decided to invest an additional 5 billion won.
According to the VC industry on the 17th, Atinum Investment has recently become an 'anchor investor' in TimeTree's 2 billion yen (about 19 billion won) Series F fundraising that has started in South Korea and Japan. It is said to be responsible for 25% of the fundraising target amount by itself.
TimeTree was established in Japan in 2014. It is known for being co-founded by Kakao Japan CEO Park Chajin, who aimed to launch the messenger app 'KakaoTalk' in Japan but gave up the Japan project after being overshadowed by Naver's 'Line' and teamed up with former Yahoo Japan employees.
TimeTree is currently regarded as 'the second Line' in Japan. The scheduling sharing application (app) TimeTree, launched in 2015, has risen to become a national app used by 29 million Japanese people, referred to as 'the wall-mounted calendar in smartphones.'
Atinum Investment is said to have a high assessment of TimeTree's growth potential. TimeTree attracts popularity by allowing anyone to easily create and share group calendars, and it has expanded overseas, currently securing about 60 million users.
Revenue is also increasing. The revenue, which was about 1 billion yen (about 9.5 billion won) in 2023, increased to 1.5 billion yen (about 14.2 billion won) last year. Revenue generated from advertising exposure on public calendars is a major source of income, and this year, it aims to expand its business area to 3.6 billion yen (about 34.2 billion won) through subscriptions and content.
Atinum Investment has already acquired TimeTree's existing shares for about 200 billion won, securing its position as a major shareholder. The corporate valuation set for this Series F fundraising has been adjusted upward by 30% over the year to roughly 260 billion won.
TimeTree is expected to be a key portfolio within Atinum Investment. While Atinum Investment formed the largest domestic VC fund in 2023, worth 860 billion won, only a few companies, including ABL Bio, have received investments of over 10 billion won.
The potential for recovery also seems to have influenced Atinum Investment's push for additional investment in TimeTree, as TimeTree aims for a listing on the Japanese stock market next year. Recently, it has also formed a consortium of underwriters, including Morgan Stanley Japan, Daiwa Securities, and Mizuho Securities.
An industry source in the VC sector said, "There are stories that selecting an underwriter is more difficult than the threshold of the stock exchange for listing on the Japanese stock market," adding, "Although we don't know how much the valuation will be after listing, many VCs, including Atinum Investment, are reportedly exploring investments because of the high recovery potential."