Key points
- US tech funds asked to meet Korea's Hancom
- The pitch is an AI team for one-person businesses
- Hancom's AI sales are growing fast
Hancom (030520), the Korean company best known for its Hangul word-processing software, is taking its new AI agent platform to US investors. About 10 American AI and tech funds asked to meet the company, and executives will hold one-on-one meetings in New York and Chicago for about a week starting Oct. 12, according to Korea Economic Daily (한국경제).
Most of the funds are smaller ones managing around $2 billion each, but at least one fund with more than $10 billion in assets also reportedly asked for a meeting. Chief Executive Kim Yeon-su and other executives will lead the trip. Mirae Asset Securities' New York unit is arranging it.
Nomadian is designed to give solo business owners an AI team
The meetings center on Nomadian. Hancom is developing it as a web-based platform designed to let solo business owners assemble AI agents for tasks such as data analysis, content marketing and email marketing. The agents appear as 3D characters working in a virtual office, so the user can see which agent is doing what. Before anything that can't be undone, such as sending an email or signing a document, the agent stops and asks the user to approve it, Aju Business Daily (아주경제) reported when Hancom unveiled the project in September.
Hancom plans to release a beta version in the US in December and start paid subscriptions in 2027. The company is aiming at the roughly 30.4 million US businesses that have no employees, and it has already started running TV ads in the US.
The US comes first. Hancom has said it plans to expand Nomadian to Korea and Europe after that.
First-half AI revenue exceeded last year's total
Hancom brought in about 13.5 billion won ($10 million) of AI revenue in the first half of this year, about 1.5 times its AI revenue for all of last year, which was about 8.9 billion won ($6.6 million), according to Seoul Shinmun (서울신문). Epic AI, an AI-based investment data platform, projects that AI revenue will reach 36 billion won ($26.8 million) this year, Korea Economic Daily reported.
The company is aiming for record operating profit this year of about 60 billion won ($45 million). It dropped its 36-year-old Korean name, 한글과컴퓨터 (Hangul and Computer), in July and now goes by Hancom as it repositions itself as an AI agent company.
Hancom is listed on the Kosdaq, where its market value is about 400 billion won ($300 million). Its shares have fallen 6.27% since the start of July as the Kosdaq has struggled. A company official told Korea Economic Daily that Hancom hopes Nomadian's US launch will lift its valuation.
