South Korean AI short drama platform Korai Flix plans to go public on the NYSE via SPAC merger at a pre-merger valuation of $3.5 billion

Two years after launch, valued at $3.5 billion! Korean AI short drama platform Korai Flix "sprints" toward the NYSE. Xīnwànr Download the app for exclusive early access. October 25, 2026, 14:09:38, from Beijing

The short drama sector has gained another capital markets event.

Recently, a Korean AI short drama platform called "Korai Flix" announced that it will list on the NYSE through a merger with the shell company APEX Tech Acquisition.

Under the agreement reached by the two parties, the transaction values Korai Flix's equity at $3.5 billion pre-merger, equivalent to approximately RMB 23.4 billion.

On the surface, this cooperation appears to be a backdoor listing, while the unlisted party can achieve a rapid listing. In reality, it is not that simple.

It is worth noting that Florence Ng, the new CEO of the SPAC shell company APEX, previously served as COO of the overseas short drama US-listed company Mega Matrix (ticker: MPU) and has mature experience operating overseas short drama platforms, which also partly explains why APEX targeted Korai Flix in the AI short drama sector.

Turning to Korai Flix. It started in June 2024, and since its founding, the platform has publicly disclosed approximately 26 million registered users, of which more than 20 million meet the minimum threshold. Its business covers three major segments: AI-native short dramas (core business), AI virtual companionship, interactive virtual characters, and AI video creation tools.

The company is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. Unlike other platforms that focus primarily on the North American market, it focuses on the Asian market, covering a total of 15 Asian countries and regions including India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Vietnam, and South Korea.

The $3.5 billion valuation for Korai Flix is the result negotiated by the two parties.

Unlike past backdoor listings, which are shell purchases where the shell company itself is poorly run and has debt or non-performing assets, allowing the company to use the shell to list directly and bypass review, Apex completed its IPO in February this year, raising $112 million. A few months after the IPO, it welcomed new CEO Florence Ng, the former COO of MPU, to look for targets in the industry. On October 20, it finalized cooperation with Korai Flix.

In this way, Korai Flix gains the status of a listed company, and this transaction is crucial to the SPAC entity APEX.

The sole purpose of a SPAC's establishment is to find an operating company to complete a merger; if no suitable target is found before the deadline, it can only be liquidated and dissolved. Once the transaction with Korai Flix is successfully closed, the founder shares obtained at low cost by APEX's sponsors will be converted into equity in the listed company Krflix Group, with the potential for high returns.

At the same time, successfully completing an M&A case in the AI short drama sector can also give APEX's management team a benchmark track record in the sector, paving the way for future capital operations.

However, a $3.5 billion valuation for a short drama platform founded just over two years ago is already very aggressive. How much of the 26 million users can truly be monetized commercially remains to be seen.

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