Yello Mobile
- 🦄Became a unicorn2014
- 📈Peak valuation$4 Billion ’16
- 💔Became a Unitard2018
- 💸Last valuationWiped out
How it happened
Yello Mobile was South Korea's first startup unicorn, reaching a 1-trillion-won valuation in December 2014 and a Forbes-estimated $4B by 2016. Its strategy was unusual: rather than build, it rolled up more than 90 small startups across mobile commerce, media, advertising and travel, paying largely in its own shares. The conglomerate never converted its soaring revenue into profit, and it unraveled amid allegations that founder Lee Sang-hyuk had borrowed heavily from affiliates and failed to repay them; he was pushed out in 2019 over embezzlement charges. Widely branded a 'dead unicorn' by 2018, Yello Mobile finally shut down in 2024.
Source: Korea Herald / The Investor / KoreaTechDesk / Wikipedia (South Korea's first unicorn, ₩1T valuation Dec 2014; Forbes valued it ~$4B in 2016; roll-up of 90+ startups; chronic losses and founder Lee Sang-hyuk's over-borrowing/embezzlement led to a 2019 board ouster; a 'dead unicorn' by 2018, shut down 2024)