DATDATDAT, Developer of 'Olobo' That Attracted 9.2 Billion Won in Investment, Declared Bankrupt

Startup DATDATDAT, the developer of the next-generation social metaverse platform 'Olobo', has been declared bankrupt by the court. The cumulative investment attracted by the company, as announced in 2023, was 9.2 billion won. The Seoul Bankruptcy Court declared DATDATDAT bankrupt on August 24.

DATDATDAT is a company founded in 2018 by executives and developers from gaming companies such as NCSoft, XLGames, and Krafton. It developed a social platform where users can create and share animation content using 3D backgrounds and characters. It was initially known by the project name 'TNT' and later decided on 'Olobo' as its service name.

Olobo is a service that creates animations featuring avatars' facial expressions and movements based on the user's voice and text. DATDATDAT announced a plan to launch the service sequentially in South Korea, Japan, India, and other countries, starting with the North American market in 2023. In 2024, it launched the Olobo test service and also signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the gaming community Inven to develop AI-based interactive game advertisements.

Investors' interest was also significant. Following early funding from YG Investment, Kimgisa Lab, and others, DATDATDAT received a 2.7 billion won investment from Korea Investment Partners, KB Investment, and others in 2021. In 2023, it attracted an additional 4.4 billion won from existing investors and BTC Investment. The cumulative investment amount announced by the company at the time was 9.2 billion won.

However, compared to the costs invested in product development, the timing of revenue generation was delayed. According to the financial statements, while no revenue was recorded until 2023, operating losses increased to 1.13 billion won in 2021, 1.4 billion won in 2022, and 3.47 billion won in 2023. The net loss for the year in 2023 was 3.48 billion won.

From 2024, circumstances indicate that the company's business activities were significantly scaled back. Selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses plummeted from 3.47 billion won in 2023 to 240 million won in 2024 and 140 million won in 2025. Operating losses also decreased to 190 million won in 2024 and 30 million won in 2025, but sales remained at only 50 million won and 110 million won, respectively. It is difficult to view the reduction in losses as an improvement in profitability, and considering the scale of SG&A expenses and sales, it appears that the company essentially continued with only minimal operations.

At the same time, DATDATDAT's assets were 1.45 billion won and its liabilities were 1.72 billion won. Total equity was negative 270 million won, placing it in a state of complete capital impairment. While current assets that could be immediately converted to cash were 20 million won, current liabilities that had to be repaid within one year were tallied at 1.72 billion won.

Although it is difficult to conclude that repeated losses and a lack of liquidity were the direct causes of bankruptcy, the financial statements confirm that the company failed to sufficiently increase its sales volume while most of the funds it raised were exhausted, leading to continued capital impairment and liquidity pressure.

DATDATDAT, which once attracted a cumulative 9.2 billion won and even prepared to enter the North American market, will undergo liquidation proceedings just eight years after its establishment. Going forward, a bankruptcy trustee will confirm the remaining assets and liabilities, dispose of the company's assets, and distribute dividends to creditors. The actual amount creditors can recover is expected to be determined by the results of the asset disposal and the priority of their claims.