South Korean fintech firm nets $3.8m from PeopleFund

Akros Technologies, a South Korea-based fintech firm, has raised US$3.8 million in a new funding round led by local peer-to-peer lending platform PeopleFund.

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

Akros aims to address accumulating fees in the distribution of investment products that involve numerous financial institutions in the process. The company plans to cut the fee by over 80% through its AI-driven investment product, which will reduce the number of channels in the distribution system.

Founded in 2021, Akros is spearheaded by Kyle Moon, Jin Chung, and Justin Gim.

Moon was previously the head of AI Research at Qraft Technologies, where he listed and managed 4 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). Meanwhile, Chung has previously researched the application of Bayesian deep learning in autonomous driving at the Oxford Robotics Institute, and Gim has over nine years of experience in the asset management industry.

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Akros expects to launch two indexes with Moorgate Benchmarks, a unit of Morningstar, this month and is also on-track to list two ETFs on the NYSE. In addition, the company plans to launch a domestic B2C investment platform service, having already acquired the relevant investment advisory licenses.

“By focusing on Akros’ core strength in the asset management, we seek to provide the optimal investment options to both domestic and global investors while removing distribution margin of investment products to transfer Akros’ technological benefits to customer values,” Moon said.