When The Pinkfong Company rang the opening bell on South Korea’s KOSDAQ exchange on November 18, 2025, it was more than just a formal listing. It was a quiet assertion that a children’s brand born on YouTube could evolve into a serious business. With an IPO price of 38,000 KRW per share—the top of its target range—Pinkfong raised 76 billion KRW, or about $53 million USD.
The response from the market was immediate. Shares jumped as high as 61,500 KRW on the first day, a 61.8% surge. Trading volume was heavy, reflecting strong interest. Institutional investors oversubscribed at a ratio of 615.9:1. Retail demand outpaced that even further, coming in at 846.9:1. The numbers confirmed what analysts suspected: this wasn’t just a pop-culture moment being monetised—it was a brand with global legs, at least in the eyes of the market.
Who is Pinkfong, and What Do They Do?
The Pinkfong Company began in 2010 as SmartStudy, a South Korean educational technology company. Pinkfong Company, however, underwent an official renaming in 2021, speaking to its new position as an international content generator.
From the popular music video, Baby Shark has become famous. Their character even graced the song and became a bubblier sensation. The company crafts the main objective of early childhood learning through singing and aesthetics, lifting the spirits of children.
In 2016, Baby Shark introduced their first international hit, a global hit. As of late 2025, the “Baby Shark Dance” video surpassed 16 billion views – the most viewed video ever on YouTube.
However, one “Baby Shark” that Pinkfong has created still exceeds its former performance through superior amounts of content. It has become challenging for a property like Baby Shark, which is one of the exclusive few successful ones, to still depend on just one property, with the intense and competitive preschool-friendly atmosphere available in the country, to diversify further.
Pinkfong put in place Select Guarantee Optimisation, which ensures the highest quality and consistency in its products. This was just a precursor to the growth of Pinkfong: During 2024, an amount of 97.4 billion KRW in revenue was realised, of which 72% came from overseas (which eventually moved to 76% in the first half of 2005), underpinning the company’s value as a “Born Global” brand.
The Pinkfong Company was established in 2000 by the parent company Smartstudy. It primarily offers preschool educational content. Pinkfong, the main character, is a pink fox-shaped character that informs kids about a few songs and colours and animals and provides some basic educational skills. All through appealing images and pleasant soundtracks.
Pinkfong’s biggest export, the “Baby Shark” song, emerged in 2016 in South Korea and quickly became an international frenzy. As of late 2025, Baby Shark Dance has exceeded 16 billion views on YouTube. It has become the most-viewed video on the platform.
But the company has always been more than just one hit. It has released over 4,000 videos in multiple languages, built content libraries across streaming platforms, and licensed merchandise in more than 100 countries. Their IP strategy is expanding with the rise of new characters like Bebefinn, which has recently started outperforming Baby Shark in streaming performance. Revenue diversification is a visible priority.
In 2024, the company reported 97.4 billion KRW in revenue and 18.8 billion KRW in operating profit. Roughly 72% of that came from international markets—a sign of just how global their business has become.
A Measured Success in the Public Eye
The listing marked a shift in how markets perceive digital-first brands that originate from viral content. Pinkfong’s strong debut suggests that investors are ready to back entertainment companies, provided they show a coherent plan for growth, IP development, and monetisation.
Analysts watching the debut noted that Pinkfong didn’t rely solely on past performance. The company outlined a clear use of proceeds: expanding into original 3D animation, growing its gaming segment, and building AI-driven educational content. There’s also a regional push to strengthen presence in Southeast Asia and Latin America—markets with strong mobile-first audiences and increasing appetite for digital children’s content.
What this means in practice is that the Baby Shark effect was never just about a catchy tune. It’s about a repeatable framework: low production cost, high user engagement, massive replay value, and fast licensing adaptability. Investors saw that model at work and chose to reward it.
Why the Pinkfong IPO Matters
You can learn something here, whether you’re building a content business or investing in one. Pinkfong’s listing is one of the clearest signals yet that digital-first IP can translate into real, institutional-grade value—provided it comes with structure.
It also reminds brand builders that virality isn’t a business model but a starting point. The Pinkfong Company didn’t stop at one hit. It built a content pipeline, localised effectively, layered in licensing, and created a feedback loop across platforms. They’re not just monetising views—they’re monetising behaviour.
If you’re developing a brand with global aspirations, these are the elements to study. What’s your revenue split across markets? Are you over-indexed on a single IP? What does your three-year pipeline look like? These are the questions Pinkfong had clear answers to when it hit the trading floor.
Implications for Brand-Led IPOs
There’s been increasing scrutiny on digital-first businesses going public, especially in the content space. Not all companies pass the test. The Pinkfong example offers a counterpoint to more tepid listings in recent years. With credible earnings, wide international appeal, and strong forward plans, the brand convinced institutional buyers to sign on.
This matters globally. Investors in New York, Singapore, London or Dubai are all looking at the same metrics: scalability, recurring revenue, and IP defensibility. Pinkfong ticked enough of those boxes to earn a strong debut, and the global media watched closely.
What Happens Next?
The real test for The Pinkfong Company begins now. Can they keep developing characters that connect? Can they build out a true portfolio, not just extend their flagship? Will the new ventures into AI, gaming, and long-form animation drive fresh revenue? The answers will determine whether Pinkfong becomes a long-term name in family entertainment—or simply a well-executed exit for early investors.
But on its first day as a listed entity, the signs were encouraging. The company stepped into public markets not with nostalgia, but with strategy. It brought numbers, ambition, and a structure that investors believed in.
And that, more than any single song, is what global brands should pay attention to.