This article was displayed on the ChosunBiz MoneyMove (MM) site at 5:16 p.m. on Feb. 27, 2026.
Financial investors (FIs) in Day 1 Company have fallen into an exit quagmire. The corporate value, once cited as a "powerhouse in the adult education market" and valued at 250 billion won before listing, has plunged since the listing. In particular, Hanwha Life Insurance, which entered at the peak, is facing an unrealized loss approaching 80%.
According to the financial investment industry on the 27th, Day 1 Company's market capitalization stood at 63.6 billion won based on the closing price that day (4,605 won). That is down about 40% from the first-day market cap (106.1 billion won) in Jan. last year. Compared with the 255.3 billion won corporate value recognized at the time of the final pre-IPO fundraising, it has been cut to a quarter.
The stock has been even weaker this year. It slid to as low as 4,310 won intraday, threatening the 60 billion won market-cap line. Considering that the confirmed offering price was 13,000 won, it is down 66%. Since its KOSDAQ debut in Jan. last year, Day 1 Company's share price has not recovered the offer price even once.
As the stock hovers at the bottom, many major FIs have been stuck, unable to unload their holdings. As of the end of Sept. last year, the number of shares held by major FIs—Wonder Holdings, Hanwha Life Insurance, Insight Venture Partners—each a "5% or more shareholder" of Day 1 Company, was found to be the same as before the listing.
The hardest hit is Hanwha Life Insurance, which made a "big" investment in the Series D round in 2022. At the time, Hanwha Life Insurance bet 27.94 billion won, giving high marks to Day 1 Company's growth potential. The per-share investment price then was 20,919 won. It is currently posting an unrealized loss of about 78% versus the current price.
Behind the FIs' troubled exits lies the "overvaluation controversy" that has trailed Day 1 Company since the IPO. Operating a workplace-skills education platform, Day 1 Company brought in the price-to-sales ratio (PSR—growth-based valuation) at listing and pitched a valuation of 360 billion won.
Rosy performance projections all missed. When pushing for the listing, the company said that on an annualized basis through the third quarter of 2024 it would post 130.5 billion won in revenue and 4.5 billion won in operating profit, but the actual report fell short. According to the 2024 annual report, revenue was 127.6 billion won. Operating loss was 300 million won, returning to the red.
The gap between estimates and reality widened further last year. While Day 1 Company's pre-IPO 2025 revenue estimate was 216.5 billion won, cumulative revenue through the third quarter last year was 90 billion won, not even half the target. The operating profit it had touted as 30.9 billion won came to about 2.5 billion won on a cumulative basis through the third quarter.
The market sees FIs' "forced long-term investment" continuing for the time being. Day 1 Company is touting content innovation using artificial intelligence (AI) and global expansion as turnaround cards, but the structure in which excessive advertising expenditure to attract new customers eats into profitability remains unchanged.
A securities industry official said, "For major investors such as Hanwha Life Insurance to recoup principal, the stock would have to soar to nearly five times the current level, and in reality there is no timeline," adding, "Even a slight rebound could trigger a flood of FI sell orders, raising overhang fears and tightening supply-demand."