Comprehensive brand agency BAT said on the 3rd that it raised 7.5 billion won in a series A round. Major domestic institutional investors, including Hana Securities and K2 Investment, participated in the funding.
With this investment, BAT plans to strengthen its business identity beyond a traditional comprehensive brand agency into a "K-brand scale-up company" that combines AI solutions, data analysis, and global marketing capabilities.
BAT posted 85.3 billion won in revenue in 2024 and returned to the black. Based on the preliminary settlement for 2025, revenue growth has entered a stabilization phase and profitability has improved. The company said a portfolio shift toward high value-added projects and operational efficiency led to better results.
BAT is developing an "AI agent" based on its own algorithms to automate and streamline marketing operations. The solution links with the integrated workspace "AEer" to automate media operations and provide real-time performance analysis and improvement proposals.
Growth in the strategic K-beauty marketing business is also notable. BAT's beauty business revenue rose from 3.6 billion won in 2024 to 18 billion won based on the preliminary settlement for 2025, an increase of about five times. BAT currently supports the domestic and overseas scaling of more than 35 brands, including 12 Olive Young private-label brands and such as Dr.G, BIODANCE, and Whip'd.
BAT plans to invest the newly secured funds in advancing its AI solutions, expanding global e-commerce infrastructure, and launching data-driven in-house private-label brands. Having internalized capabilities to operate global channels such as Amazon and TikTok Shop, BAT plans to unveil new global private-label brands each year to secure growth drivers.
Park Jun-gyu, CEO of BAT, said, "2025 was the year we laid the foundation as a scale-up company," adding, "By combining our proprietary AI agent solution with scale-up know-how, we will leap into a unicorn with a corporate value of 1 trillion won by 2030."