Bunkerkids raises ₩2B from Crit Ventures for AI character chat app Whif
What's the deal? South Korea's Bunkerkids has raised 2 billion KRW (about $1.3 million) from Crit VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → to expand Whif, its AI-powered interactive content platform. The company announced the round on July 15, 2026.
What's the endgame? Whif lets users chat with officially licensed webtoon and web novel characters, as well as custom AI characters, building stories that unfold based on user choices. Its proprietary triple-memory system, modelled on the human brain, retains key relationship and narrative details to keep characters consistent over long conversations.
By the numbers: Whif recorded an average daily session of 217 minutes among paying users. Over its first nine months, monthly payments grew 110% on average and the service turned an operating profit, according to the company.
Why now? Founded in 2020, Bunkerkids previously built and sold AI education service Data Diving and AI meal-recommendation service My ShipdanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, establishing its technical track record. It launched Whif in July 2025 across South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand, and overseas markets now generate 28% of total revenue.
The company plans to use the funding to accelerate its push into Japan and the US, expand its licensed IP, and move beyond female-oriented content into other genres.
What they're saying: "As AI technology advances, what matters more than the model itself is content and IP that keep users engaged for longer," said chief executive officer Jung Seung-wan, describing Whif as "an interactive platform, not a simple Q&A chatbot."
The signal: Crit Ventures' Lim Yong-muk said generative AI is shifting content consumption "from watching and reading to direct participation." The bet reflects a wider view that in AI-driven content, durable IP and user retention — not raw model capability — will decide the winners.
Read more: WOWTALE
