Studio Kico, the South Korea-based company behind the location-sharing app “Pinderland,” has secured seed funding. The investment amount has not been disclosed. Studio Kico was founded by Sehoon Kim, a co-founder of Wanted Lab.

The seed round was led by Strong Ventures, along with Xquared, a venture capital firm established by three former M&A attorneys from Korea’s largest law firm, Kim & Chang.

In April of this year, Studio Kico launched Pinderland, a location-sharing app whose name combines “Pin” and “Wonderland.” Pinderland goes beyond a typical map app by allowing users to share location information, communicate with each other, and explore the world in a more enjoyable and meaningful way. By integrating social networking features, users can easily record and share places on the map with close friends and interact in real-time.

In just three months since its launch, Pinderland has seen weekly growth of 25% in both users and content, with users averaging five visits per week and 29 minutes per session. The app has been praised for its global scalability, as it allows users to save and explore locations worldwide via Google Maps integration, and can easily be adapted for multiple languages.

From the start, Pinderland was designed with international expansion in mind. The company plans to enter the Japanese market next year and expand across Asia by 2026. With its focus on building content and sharing location-based information, the app has limitless growth potential.

Hyerim Yoo, an investment manager at Strong Ventures, said, “As users grow weary of traditional social media, Pinderland offers a user-friendly UI/UX that makes it easy to share locations with friends and explore diverse lifestyles. We decided to invest based on CEO Kim’s outstanding execution skills and the team’s rapid development capabilities, which promise sustained growth both domestically and internationally.”

Kanghee Jo, CEO of Xquared, added, “Pinderland enables users to document places, create memories, build relationships, and share life’s important moments. Even in its early stages, the app has shown excellent customer engagement.”

Sehoon Kim, CEO of Studio Kico, remarked, “We aim to develop Pinderland into a service that focuses on trusted location recommendations from friends, ensuring it establishes a strong foothold in the market. We will continue to enhance its unique competitiveness and evolve it into a valuable service that connects more people around the world through shared locations.”