Chatbot startup Thingsflow raises ₩2.3 billion in Series A funding

Thingsflow, the operator of chatbot app Hellobot, announced on the 20th that it had raised ₩2.3 billion in Series A funding. Investors included Neoplux, SpringCamp, Honest Ventures, and the Seoul Business Agency. Existing investor SpringCamp also made a follow-on investment.

Hellobot is an app where users enjoy content by chatting with character-based bots. As of the end of last month, the app had surpassed 3 million cumulative users. Its flagship chatbots include Ramama, a tarot bot that offers relationship advice through tarot readings; Barbie, a diagnostic bot that analyzes personality and assesses users’ emotional state; and Pan Mingming, a fortune-telling bot that offers a modern take on saju. More than 80% of Hellobot users are from the MZ generation. They turn to the app for advice and entertainment, actively share their experiences on social media, and sometimes purchase paid conversation content.

Since July last year, Thingsflow has made Hellobot Studio available to select individuals and brands with their own content, enabling them to create custom chatbots in five minutes without programming skills. In the second half of this year, the company plans to officially open the studio to content providers and introduce a wider variety of chatbots.

Thingsflow CEO Lee Suji said, “With this investment, we’ll build on our strength in chatbot planning and focus on diversifying our chatbot categories. At the same time, we’ll step up efforts to commercialize our IP so customers encounter Hellobot characters more often.”