FSN announced on the 15th that its subsidiary, BOOSTERZ, successfully raised approximately $8.1 million (KRW 10.4 billion) in new investments. The funding round saw participation from Hana Ventures, SmartStudy Ventures, IBK Venture Investment, Kolon Investment, and A Ventures. This achievement follows BOOSTERZ’s record-breaking sales and operating profits last year and marks a significant milestone with a post-valuation exceeding $77.8 million (KRW 100 billion) just five years into its core business operations.

With this new funding, BOOSTERZ plans to expand partnerships and strengthen its foundation for growth in its Shared Growth business, which fosters mutual success with promising brands. By leveraging its strong advertising and marketing capabilities, BOOSTERZ has rapidly built a stable business model centered on co-growth with its partners. The company co-invests with partner brands in marketing activities, transparently sharing the outcomes. When trust and synergy are maximized, BOOSTERZ often deepens the partnership by making equity or capital investments.

Even in cases of underperformance, BOOSTERZ shares investment risks with its partner brands, ensuring a strong sense of responsibility. This approach has enabled the company to grow alongside leading brands in categories such as food and beverage, footwear, beauty, athleisure, and LED products.

Since officially launching its operations in 2020, BOOSTERZ has steadily grown, driven by its focus on efficiency, professionalism, and mutual trust in advertising and marketing. Last year, the company achieved a major milestone with its highest-ever sales and operating profits. For 2024, preliminary financial results project annual revenue of approximately $81.9 million (KRW 105.6 billion) and operating profit of around $11.5 million (KRW 14.8 billion). These figures represent growth of over 78% and 348%, respectively, compared to its previous records in 2023.

Looking ahead to 2025, BOOSTERZ is aiming for another record-breaking year, with significant growth potential still untapped. Its food and beverage and footwear partner brands continue to solidify their positions as leaders in their categories. Meanwhile, marketing campaigns are planned for new partner brands that joined in late 2023. Notably, an athleisure brand and a natural light LED brand are preparing for aggressive market entries this year. BOOSTERZ is also exploring new ventures, including an online-based Korean beef processing and distribution business, as well as additional partnerships and equity investments.

BOOSTERZ also plans to maximize its use of AI, building on its successful initiatives from last year. The company launched its high-efficiency advertising creative service platform, “CREeX.ai,” and the AI chatbot service, “CreRing.” CREeX supports the entire advertising process with AI, while CreRing, an AI chatbot service based on KakaoTalk, analyzes user trends and learns frequently used terms and grammar to produce consumer-friendly AI-driven creative content. These tools significantly enhance efficiency for partner brands.

Jeong-Kyo Seo, CEO of BOOSTERZ, stated, “This year marks the beginning of our full-scale expansion into overseas markets. Our goal is to establish ourselves as Korea’s leading Shared Growth Company, growing alongside numerous SMEs and startup brands. We are committed to supporting startups with strong growth potential but challenges in marketing, helping them achieve meaningful success.”