AI service specialized company ESTsoft (047560, CEO Jung Sang-won) announced on the 10th that it has issued exchangeable bonds worth 5 billion won and is accelerating the expansion of its new AI business.

The exchangeable bonds are non-guaranteed private exchangeable bonds with an anonymous form, and the maturity date is February 14, 2028. The face interest rate is 0%, the maturity interest rate is 2%, and the exchange price is 14,500 won. The issuance target is Shinhan-JW Mezzanine New Technology Investment Association No. 1.

ESTsoft plans to concentrate on the official market entry and business expansion of AI new businesses such as AI virtual human, eyewear virtual fitting commerce, etc., through the funds raised this time.

In particular, the AI virtual human has built the world's top-level AI virtual human exclusive studio, which can implement up to 8K, in December last year, and is quickly deploying businesses in various fields such as education, news, and healthcare. Recently, as the company is receiving great attention in the market by introducing the first bilingual AI TOEIC speaking instructor in the domestic education industry capable of simultaneous Korean-English speech, they plan to put the AI virtual human business on a real growth trajectory in both domestic and international markets through aggressive investments, in-house IP development, and operation associated with ChatGPT.

Along with this, ESTsoft will also invest in the eyewear virtual fitting commerce company 'ROUNZ' (ROUNZ), a subsidiary of ESTsoft. ROUNZ, which is growing by constructing an O2O omnichannel within the existing eyewear industry with AI virtual fitting technology and partner optician policies, jumped into the B2B business in earnest last year, securing about 600 partner opticians. This year, based on this, they plan to strengthen the online-offline linked business and through this improve both performance and profitability.

Regarding the issuance of exchangeable bonds, ESTsoft explained that despite uncertain market conditions such as a global economic downturn and an increase in the base interest rate, the company's new AI business was recognized for its growth potential and successfully completed attracting investment.

ESTsoft CEO Jung Sang-won said, "With the funds secured through this exchangeable bond issuance, we plan to focus on expanding our new AI business, which is attracting attention not only in Korea but also in the global market,” and “This year will be the first year to achieve tangible results in the new AI business.