Yello Mobile

Yello Mobile is a South Korean mobile software company that primarily grew from its founding in 2012 as a rollup of various software companies in South Korea.

Yello Mobile
옐로모바일
IndustrySoftware industry
Founded2012 in Seoul, South Korea
FounderSanghyuk Lee
Headquarters
South Korea
Number of employees
~3,000
Websiteyellomobile.com

History

Lee founded the company as a startup incubator, using a variety of equity-based swaps and investments to roll-up software businesses in South Korea.[1] Yello Mobile was hailed as a new and innovative venture model that brought much-needed exit opportunities for many entrepreneurs. Various copy cats emerged very quickly.[2] The company raised over $187 million from investors such as Macquarie, Formation 8, and SBI Group.[3] It also attracted directors and investors such as Gideon Yu and Brian Koo, the eldest son of the founder of South Korean chaebol LS Group.

Over a period of 6 years, the company acquired over 94 startup companies in their SMATO (Shopping, Media, Advertisement, Travel and Online-to-Offline) categories.[4] However, it has been reported that the rapid growth via acquisitions has resulted in various management and communication issues across the firm.

While revenue soared from 68 million won (US$60,463) to 527 billion won (US$468 million), lawsuits with investors and financial challenges have been reported in the press.[4][5] The company pulled their initial public offering from the KOSDAQ for these reasons.

In February 2019, the company announced that Lee had resigned as CEO[6] amidst rumors of bankruptcy proceedings and embezzlement accusations.[6][7]

References
  1. "Yello Mobile's value questioned". Korea JoongAng Daily.
  2. "It's buy and conquer for South Korea's Yello Mobile". Nikkei Asian Review.
  3. "Yello Mobile". Crunchbase.
  4. "The imminent fall of Korea's first unicorn Yello Mobile". www.theinvestor.co.kr.
  5. "Macquarie-backed Korean unicorn Yello Mobile on verge of collapse: Report". DealStreetAsia.
  6. "이상혁 옐로모바일 대표 연임...가능성 타진 '안간힘'". www.econovill.com. 1 April 2019.
  7. "[피치원단독]옐로모바일,1400억원 CB상환못해,파산초읽기,이상혁 CEO사법처리임박".
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