BunkerKids, Operator of AI Character Chat Service 'WHIF', Raises 15 Billion Won in Funding

Kolon Investment, Kakao Ventures, and Others Join Investment

User Choices Lead to Expanding Relationships and Stories

Bunker Kids, the operator of the artificial intelligence (AI) character chat service 'WHIF,' has secured 15 billion won in Series A funding. As user-driven creative activities—where individuals build stories with characters—have become more active, and as these characters expand into various types of content and intellectual property (IP), Bunker Kids' growth potential has been highly regarded in the current market trend.

On August 11, a representative from Bunker Kids stated, "Kolon Investment, Kakao Ventures, Mirae Asset Capital, We Ventures, BSK Investment, Murex Partners, Crit Ventures, and Samchully Investment participated in this round."

1,000-Fold Monthly Revenue Growth within a Year of Launch

WHIF is an AI interactive content platform where users form relationships with AI characters through conversations, and the narrative changes based on user choices. Unlike simple Q&A chat bots that provide predetermined answers, conversations on WHIF continually build on themselves, allowing both the relationship with the character and the story to evolve organically. Rather than simply consuming content, users can create new characters and stories through the platform.

The average daily usage time for paying WHIF customers reaches 217 minutes. For the nine months following the service launch, monthly transaction volumes grew by an average of 110%. One year after launch, monthly revenue has increased to a scale 1,000 times greater than during the initial period. WHIF currently holds the top position in revenue in the Asian female-oriented AI character chat market.

Its global growth momentum has continued as well. After a simultaneous launch last October in Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, the United States, and other countries, WHIF is now operated in 13 countries. Approximately 40% of total revenue now comes from overseas markets, with the goal of increasing that proportion to over 60% by the end of the year.

Aggressive Recruitment Underway...Product Advancements and Global Expansion Planned

The new funds will primarily be used to expand the team through recruitment. Bunker Kids is currently hiring talent across all divisions, including development, planning, design, and marketing. The company also plans to focus on product advancement and expanding into global markets. This includes raising the level of character and narrative completion and integrating multimodal technologies such as images and video into the service. By enhancing content and user experience specifically for each country, Bunker Kids aims to accelerate its overseas expansion.

Boyoung Kim, Executive Director at Kolon Investment, explained, "Bunker Kids has proven its growth capabilities based on a deep understanding of the market and swift execution. As WHIF continues to realize its vision as a next-generation content platform, I am especially excited about its global expansion story."

Dongwook Jang, Executive Director at Kakao Ventures, said, "Although a latecomer, Bunker Kids is a lean organization that, in just seven months, has achieved metrics surpassing established competitors. From the beginning, the company has demonstrated exceptional capital efficiency and, with its outstanding product execution, has effectively locked in a highly purchasing female-oriented user base. I am confident that it will grow into a key K-IP platform in the coming era of global AI-native content."

Bunker Kids CEO Seungwan Jeong commented, "As WHIF expands into multimodal content combining images and video, it will open a market of a scale that cannot even be compared to today's. WHIF is committed to being at the center of that transformation, creating new content experiences."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.