Humax, a symbol of the "first generation of venture founders," has been confirmed to have disposed of the equity it held via a subsidiary in The Swing, the No. 2 corporations in Korea's personal mobility (PM) sector. It appears to have sold the stake to secure cash amid weak core operations and losses in new businesses, but with regulatory headwinds buffeting the kickboard market lately, some see it as preemptively removing risk.
According to the mobility industry on the 7th, Humax recovered its investment by liquidating its equity, including redeemable convertible preferred shares (RCPS), in The Swing Co., which operates the electric kickboard sharing service "Swing," invested in previously through its subsidiary Alticast. From 2020 to 2022, Humax invested a total of 4.4 billion won through Series A and Series B rounds to secure The Swing equity (estimated at about 10%). The Swing's cumulative investment raised stands at about 40 billion won.
Analysts say Humax's latest equity sale was decisively driven by financial pressure and a worsening market environment around the kickboard business. Recently, electric kickboards have been called "lethal weapons on the road," facing social pressure to be pushed out. After a series of serious accidents—such as last Oct. in Songdo, Incheon, when two middle school students riding an electric kickboard without a license struck a woman in her 30s, leaving her in critical condition—politicians have pushed ahead with so-called "kick-rani ban bills" (including the Act on the Promotion of Safety and Convenience of Personal Mobility) that would effectively ban kickboard lending businesses.
On top of this, pressure from local governments and police is mounting. The Seoul city government designated Hongdae Red Road and the Banpo tutoring district as "kickboard-free streets," and Incheon also recently designated the Songdo tutoring district and the Bupyeong themed street as no-passage zones and began a pilot program. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has announced large-scale surprise crackdowns starting this month on sidewalk riding and signal violations by kickboards and two-wheeled vehicles. The stricter the regulation, the more the business viability of shared kickboard companies structurally deteriorates.
Various controversies surrounding The Swing itself also weighed on Humax. The Swing has been embroiled in a communication firestorm for allegedly refusing insurance claims for user-fault accidents by citing an internal rule of "exemption for carelessness" that is not even in its terms, and for warning of criminal charges against users trading secondhand bicycles. Chief Executive Kim Hyeong-san of The Swing has criticized government policy, saying "regulation is the enemy of innovation," but as criticism mounted that the company was passive on safety and consumer protection, it has reportedly lost momentum for this year's initial public offering (IPO).
From Humax's standpoint, with mobility new businesses like "Turu Parking (parking lots)" and "Turu Charger (charging)" still mired in losses, it likely had no capacity to keep holding kickboard equity that carries heavy regulatory risk and offers no synergy.
Initially, Humax planned to create synergy by using the Turu Parking brand—operated by its subsidiary Humax Mobility—as kickboard hubs or charging stations for The Swing, but actual collaboration results were reportedly minimal. Because kickboard users often demand "door-to-door" trips that go right to their destination, the parking-lot hub model failed to gain traction, weakening the strategic rationale for continuing to hold the equity.
A mobility industry official said, "To aggressively expand market share, The Swing overlooked safety verification, such as condoning unlicensed minors riding, which greatly tainted the entire industry," adding, "Excessive expansion for the No. 1 race has boomeranged into a surge in accidents and a regulatory bomb."
In response, a The Swing official explained, "As Humax's subsidiary Alticast was sold to an outside party, some of the old shares in The Swing held by Alticast were purchased by external investors and reflected as investment recovery on the financial statements; it does not mean all equity was disposed of at once." The official added, "In this process, there was also a case where Chief Executive Kim Hyeong-san repurchased some of the old shares previously invested, increasing his personal stake."
The official also said, "Currently, the shared kickboard business is not directly operated; it is run mainly through partner operators who own the devices, and the related revenue share is under 20%."