Investors are willing to pay almost 25 dollars for every dollar of the startup's current revenue — and that's not a typo, but the new norm in the world of consumer AI. Korean company Wrtn Technologies has just closed a Series C round of 73 million dollars at a valuation of 870 million, projecting revenue of over 145 million dollars already in 2026. A year earlier, the figure was about 34 million. Such numbers make one wonder: where is the line between justified optimism and another wave of hype around artificial intelligence.
Wrtn started in 2021 as an aggregator of chatbots, combining models from OpenAI, Anthropic, and others in a single interface. By 2025, the focus shifted to interactive stories: the Crack platform (OOC in the US) allows users to influence the plot in real time, like in a tabletop role-playing game. Average time spent in the app reaches two hours a day, and retention of paying users exceeds 70%. This is no longer just a chat, but a digital analog of Netflix or YouTube, only with a personalized author for everyone.
Series C is a continuation of previous rounds: in total, the company has raised about 167 million dollars. Leading investors — Goodwater Capital and other funds — see in Wrtn not just a Korean project, but a potential global player. The platform already operates in Korea and Japan, and in May 2026 launched OOC in North America, where monthly revenue quickly reached 7,3 million dollars. Investors are betting that the 'AI entertainment' format will solve the problem of loneliness and fill time better than traditional media.
Behind the attractive numbers lies clear logic: capital flows where user attention turns into recurring payments. Unlike B2B solutions focused on contracts with corporations, Wrtn bets on the mass consumer. The high valuation reflects not so much current profit as expectations of explosive growth in the AI-entertainment market. At the same time, the company does not build its own large language models, but skillfully combines existing ones — a strategy that reduces costs and accelerates time to market.
However, behind every such round there is also risk. Revenue forecasts for 2026 look ambitious amid competition from Character.AI, major players like OpenAI, and possible tightening of regulation. If users quickly tire of the format or regulators impose restrictions on generative content, the trajectory could change sharply. History shows that in technological booms, it is precisely the companies that first capture attention that get the highest valuations — but they do not always keep them for long.
Money works here like water: it finds the path of least resistance and rushes to where a habit is formed daily. Wrtn proves that even a startup from a small country can rewrite the rules of the game if it can turn AI into a personal storyteller for millions of people. The only question is how sustainable this flow will be.
