$BOOM! I-ON Communications Co., Ltd. Secures $500,000 Equity Investment From South Korea-Based Venture Capital Firm UTC Invest, to Accelerate Sports Technology Development and Expansion
I-ON Digital Corp.
Apr 30, 2019, 15:54 ET
SEOUL, South Korea, April 30, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- I-ON Communications Co., Ltd. ("I-ON Communications" or the "Company"), www.i-on.net, a wholly-owned subsidiary of I-ON Digital Corp. (OTCQB: IONI) ("I-ON Digital"), a Seoul, South Korea based global enterprise software company focused on delivering leading digital experience, CMS, unstructured data management and digital marketing solutions and services to mid and large private and public sector enterprises, is pleased to announce that it has recently secured an investment of approximately $500,000 from the sports technology focused affiliate of UTC Investment Co. ("UTC"), a leading South Korea-based technology-focused venture capital firm founded in 1988. Notably, the closing of the equity purchase agreement was executed with consideration from the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy pursuant to the 2019 commercialization technology development project investment examination (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy Announcement No. 2019-65), which qualifies I-ON Communications for an additional $1 million in non-dilutive grants from sovereign institutions pursuing specific mandates related to the development of sports related technology, big data and analytics as well as player and audience engagement tools. As a result, the funding from UTC is expected to accelerate I-ON Communications' speed to market within the local sports ICT market across multiple amateur and professional sports leagues.
James Oh, Chairman and CEO of I-ON Communications noted, "Since our founding nearly twenty years ago, I-ON has been at the forefront of South Korea's unstructured data management sector beginning with enterprise content management software and now as an emerging player in sports data management solutions with strong R&D capabilities. We are pleased to have secured this important investment at this time with UTC, a long-term partner with decades of experience investing in the South Korea and Asia-pacific TMT industry. Importantly, the investment will be used solely for our sports data management product development and expansion initiatives and it also qualifies I-ON Communications to receive recurring R&D grants from South Korean sovereign institutions, which helps boost our technical capabilities and resources significantly."
In consideration for its investment, I-ON Communications issued to UTC 157,142 preferred shares of a total of 2,808,214 shares issued and outstanding at an implied valuation of $9.8 million, or the equivalent to approximately $0.29 per share. No shares of I-ON Digital were issued in the transaction so there was no dilution to I-ON Digital's OTCQB listed shares.
Registrant Name Change
Pursuant to Form 8-K filed with the SEC on April 23, 2019, I-ON is also pleased to announce that it has changed its registrant name to I-ON Digital Corp. from I-ON Communications Corp., to better reflect the Company's overall vision of addressing the digital transformation needs of enterprises and their audiences by offering next-generation digital experience platforms and software solutions, which are expected to include more SaaS and cloud-based features across the sports and energy ICT verticals. The Company will update investors when the planned name and symbol change are effective on OTC Markets.
About I-ON Digital Corp.
I-ON Digital Corp. (www.i-on.net/eng) is a Seoul, South Korea-based software and solutions developer as well as provider founded in 1999.After being awarded its first of six key patents by 2003, I-ON has sold to over 1,600 clients across numerous verticals in both the private and public sectors, primarily throughout South Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia. The Company's core offerings include DXP (Digital Experience Platform) and revolve around unstructured data management, Sports data software and Energy ICT solutions.
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