en.Wedoany.com Reported - South Korea's HR platform Incruit (인크루트) is building an AX ecosystem covering the entire recruitment process, centered on public institution recruitment agency and artificial intelligence (AI) matching of potential job seekers, to eliminate mismatches between companies and job seekers. The company had fallen into capital erosion due to declining profitability, but improved its financial structure through a capital injection from its parent company and accelerated the refinement of its B2B business.

Incruit chose the B2C-oriented "AI Simulation Assessment" as its entry point. Unlike competitors' AI job posting recommendations, the company believes that general-purpose AI struggles to perfectly handle complex recruitment conditions and negative keyword filtering. In this assessment system, job seekers can set up hypothetical companies and positions to experience the actual recruitment process, with AI analyzing their responses and capabilities to provide reports, allowing them to identify their strengths and weaknesses in advance.

Under the "Qualified Integration" brand, the company also operates NCS question analysis and its self-developed game-based aptitude test "Meta Test," thereby accumulating evaluation data applicable to corporate recruitment processes. Its ultimate vision is to integrate this data with its own applicant tracking system (ATS) and HR solution Team Grab, upgrading them into enterprise-level AI HR solutions.

The core of Incruit's business structure is not job posting listings or paid resume access sales, but recruitment agency services for public institutions and public enterprises. From document screening to National Competency Standards (NCS) written exam operation and interview selection, the company manages the entire recruitment process. It was once recognized for serving as the recruitment agency for a public institution under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, establishing a stable B2B order base in the public bidding market.

According to the audit report, Incruit's standalone operating revenue last year was 32.2 billion won. Of this, consulting sales for managing the entire recruitment process for client companies reached 25.4 billion won, accounting for 79%; platform revenue from job postings and advertising was only 6.8 billion won, accounting for 21%. By revenue recognition standards, service sales recognized on a periodic basis amounted to 30.5 billion won, or 94%, indicating that long-term recruitment projects, rather than one-time advertisements, support performance.

This B2B-centric structure aligns with the "Passive Candidate" acquisition strategy. The company offers headhunting and direct sourcing services to employed individuals who, while not actively seeking a job change, are open to quality proposals, aiming to eliminate mismatches between large corporate partners, strong small businesses, and talent. The expansion of the headhunting platform "Sherlock N" is also underway, where companies input job conditions and receive candidate recommendations within 48 hours, with one-stop support for resume screening, interview scheduling, and offer letters.

Incruit was established in 2018 through a physical division of Incruit&Co.'s (인크루트앤코) job portal and HR solutions business division. Incruit&Co. holds 100% of Incruit's shares, and NHN has significant influence over Incruit&Co. Incruit CEO Seo Mi-young (서미영) has led the company for 27 consecutive years since its founding in 1999.

Although Incruit expanded investments, it bore short-term financial burdens. Last year, standalone sales decreased by 6.1% from 34.3 billion won the previous year, with an operating loss of 4.7 billion won turning to a deficit. The net loss for the period of 6.2 billion won increased significantly from 260 million won the previous year. In terms of cost structure, among operating expenses of 36.9 billion won, payment fees of 20.6 billion won were the largest item, including outsourcing costs such as headhunting performance fees. Traces of AI investment were also evident, with intangible asset amortization expenses of 400 million won increasing 85% year-on-year, reflecting amortization from software development investments of 1.1 billion won. Advertising and promotion expenses were reduced from 1.1 billion won to 600 million won.

As of the end of last year, Incruit's accumulated deficit was 4.4 billion won, with total capital at -3.5 billion won, falling into a state of capital erosion. Total liabilities of 23.2 billion won exceeded total assets of 19.7 billion won, with total borrowings of 13.9 billion won. The company raised funds from Korea Development Bank (8 billion won), KB Kookmin Bank (1.9 billion won), and iM Bank (1.3 billion won), with 5.2 billion won in borrowings from Korea Development Bank and iM Bank guaranteed jointly and severally by CEO Seo.

To improve its financial structure, Incruit resolved at its regular general meeting of shareholders in March this year to implement a capital reduction without compensation and a capital increase with consideration. Through a 2:1 capital reduction without compensation, merging the existing 1 million shares into 500,000 shares, the reduction difference of 250 million won was used to offset losses. Additionally, 200,000 new shares were issued to its parent company Incruit&Co. at 20,000 won per share, injecting 4 billion won.