Line parent’s VC firm leads $2.3m funding for Korean ETF startup

Akros Technologies, a South Korea-based fintech firm, has raised US$2.3 million in a strategic funding round. The fundraise was led by ZVC – the investment arm of Line Corporation parent Z Holdings.

The round precedes the fintech firm’s series A fundraise that it has scheduled for next year.

(From left) Akros Technologies co-founders Justin Gim, Kyle Moon, and Jin Chung / Photo credit: Akros Technologies

Founded last year, Akros Technologies manages its own exchange-traded funds (ETFs) powered by machine learning models. In May, it launched a monthly payout ETF called MPAY, which has a 7% annualized target rate.

The firm also provides infrastructure for companies that want to build their own investment products, which it calls a portfolio-management-as-a-service (PMaaS) offering. Recently, it helped with the listing of the KPOP and Korean Entertainment ETF on the New York Stock Exchange.

The company was established by Kyle Moon and Justin Gim – former executives of fintech firm Qraft Technologies. They are joined by Jin Chung, who played a key role in applying Bayesian deep learning in autonomous driving at the Oxford Robotics Institute.

Akros Technologies plans to use the fresh funding to scale its investment products and partner with more financial institutions for its PMaaS solution.

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In March, the firm raised US$3.8 million in a seed funding round led by Korean peer-to-peer lending platform PeopleFund.