Korean App Builder ProtoPie Raises $8 Million For North America Expansion

ProtoPie, a Seoul-based startup that helps companies build websites and mobile apps, has raised $8 million in a funding round to fuel its global expansion.

The funding round was led by leading Korean VC firm LB Investment, whose other investments include Kakao Games, online grocery startup Kurly and Goldman Sachs-backed proptech startup ZigBang.

Existing investors Dubai-based HB Investment, Intops Investment in Seoul and Korean mobile game company Devsisters also participated in the funding round. Korean billionaire Park Hyeon-joo’s Mirae Asset Venture Investment joined the round as a new investor.

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The $8 million brings ProtoPie’s total funds raised so far to almost $18 million. The startup said the fresh funds will be used to expand in North America and establish offices in Vancouver and Austin, as users from the region account for 35% of the company’s revenue.

The startup’s software provides easy-to-use templates to develop prototype apps and websites. Its useres include include Korean internet giants Naver and Kakao, as well as billionaire Jay Y. Lee’s Samsung and Hiroshi Mikitani’s Japanese e-commerce giant Rakuten.

ProtoPie says it has served 15,000 enterprise users from 100 countries since 2017, when its software was commercialized. Most of its users are from the U.S., Germany and the U.K., working at companies such as Google, BMW and Vodafone.

ProtoPie was founded in 2014 by Tony Kim, a former interaction designer at Naver and Google, and Scotty Kim, a former software engineer at Samsung.