Spoonlabs, which runs the short drama platform Vigloo and the audio platform Spoon, said on the 24th that it has begun preparations for an initial public offering (IPO) with a goal of listing in 2028. Spoonlabs plans to select its lead underwriter by the third quarter of this year.
Spoonlabs plans to use the IPO to strengthen its artificial intelligence (AI) content production infrastructure and global business base.
Choi Hyuk-jae, CEO of Spoonlabs, said, "As we have proven Spoon's stable profitability and Vigloo's high growth potential, we determined it is time to lay the groundwork to leap forward as an AI media entertainment corporations," and added, "We will move quickly from selecting the underwriter to the pre-IPO and aim to list in 2028."
The overseas sales share of Spoon and Vigloo has both surpassed 60%, and operating revenue in the first half of this year came to about 57.5 billion won, up about 78% from a year earlier. As of the 12th of this month, cumulative sales this year have exceeded last year's annual sales. The company said, "With Vigloo and Spoon growing evenly as two pillars, we have secured both profitability and growth potential at the same time."
As of June this year, Vigloo's average monthly active users (MAU) increased about 6.1 times from a year earlier, and first-half operating revenue rose about 6.5 times. According to market research firm Sensor Tower, in May it ranked fourth in year-over-year sales growth and second in month-over-month sales growth among all short drama platforms. Spoon also has maintained growth since turning profitable in 2022, with first-half operating revenue up about 13% from a year earlier.
Recently, Spoonlabs has expanded its business scope beyond content distribution to AI-based production and operations infrastructure. In the first half of this year, it launched Vigloo Partners, the short drama industry's first service to provide integrated settlement and viewing data, and recently unveiled the AI short drama production platform Vigloo Studio. In February, Spoon also rolled out the audio novel service Podnoble to the global market, broadening its service into AI story content.
The plan is to build an AI content platform ecosystem in which Vigloo Studio supplies AI-based content, Vigloo and Spoon handle market validation and global distribution, and Vigloo Partners connects the revenue model.