AI and cloud company MegazoneCloud said on Tuesday it signed an investment agreement with Neowiz Partners, an investment-focused subsidiary of Neowiz Holdings.

The investment was a pre-IPO placement in MegazoneCloud, which is pushing ahead with a listing. It was carried out through an unconditional purchase of an ordinary share stake.

MegazoneCloud plans to use the newly secured funds for future growth businesses such as AI and security.

MegazoneCloud secured 48 billion won in its Series A funding round in 2019. It raised 190 billion won through two Series B funding rounds in December 2020 and June 2021.

In 2022, KT participated as a strategic investor and invested 130 billion won, and MegazoneCloud raised Series C funding worth 450 billion won in the same year. Last year, it achieved its first-ever return to profitability. In June this year, parent company Megazone received an 800 billion won investment from Glenwood Credit, bought out MegazoneCloud shares held by existing financial investors and secured a total 72 percent stake to establish a stable governance structure, the company said. It added that it has begun full-scale preparations for an initial public offering.

MegazoneCloud Chief Executive Yeom Dong-hoon (염동훈) said the new investment was meaningful because it recognised the company's growth potential and future value. He said it would continue efforts to strengthen fundamentals to accelerate shared growth with investors.