[Press] Cloocus Secures Series B Funding, Raising 20 Billion KRW to Accelerating IPO Plans

July 12, 2024 – Cloocus, a specialized cloud consulting and management company based on data and AI (CEO Steve Hong, www.cloocus.com), has successfully completed its Series B funding round and announced plans to accelerate its IPO.

In this investment round, Stonebridge, following its Series A investment, and Helios PE each invested 10 billion KRW, raising a total of 20 billion KRW. This brings the total accumulated investment to 43.5 billion KRW. Helios PE (CEO Jeon Je-mo) is an independent private equity firm specializing in investments in the ICT sector, with an accumulated fund formation amounting to approximately 500 billion KRW.

Cloocus, which has won Microsoft’s Partner of the Year Award for three consecutive years, has established itself as a cloud MSP specialized in data and AI even before the advent of generative AI, and is rapidly growing through the advancement of related services. The company started with 34 billion KRW in sales in its first year, reached 83.6 billion KRW in 2022, and achieved approximately 165 billion KRW in sales in 2023, a twofold increase from the previous year. This year, the company aims for 300 billion KRW in sales and a turnaround to profitability in the second half.

To meet the explosive demand for generative AI platform construction, Cloocus has established a dedicated GenAI team to support AI adoption professionally. The company operates a separate data and AI technology center, which consists of specialized technical teams for database engineering, data analysis, and AI/ML, providing comprehensive support for analytical AI and generative AI services.

Cloocus supports enterprises in adopting generative AI by offering comprehensive services in consulting, construction, operation, and training. The company is expanding its service roadmap to support successful AI platform adoption from end-to-end, based on an AI alliance and a collaborative ecosystem with AI specialized service companies.

This investment is expected to play a crucial role in strengthening Cloocus’s position as an AI MSP. With this funding, Cloocus aims to improve its financial structure, secure liquidity, expand its generative AI construction business opportunities, accelerate its overseas expansion into Japan and the Middle East, and continue preparing for a profitable second half and IPO.

“This investment recognizes Cloocus’s potential for revenue growth and substantial profit generation as an AI MSP, especially in a market where investments are shrinking due to the economic downturn. We are delighted to have our vision highly evaluated. We will use this investment to further expand our AI platform construction business and AI alliance collaboration ecosystem, aim for profitability in the second half, and strengthen our competitiveness in the global market while expanding our business.” – Steve Hong, CEO of Cloocus

Cloocus has over 500 customers across various industries, including Krafton, Pearl Abyss, Netmarble, Samsung E&C, Samsung C&T, and Hyundai Motor Company. The company has branches in Busan, the USA, and Malaysia. Cloocus is accelerating its global AI MSP business expansion, focusing on AI-centric services, SaaS solutions, and AI-based cloud managed services. These achievements are raising expectations for the upcoming IPO.