Watcha lost the Korean streaming war and entered court rehabilitation

Watcha, launched in 2013, was one of Korea's first homegrown streaming services, built around a recommendation engine that drew a loyal base of cinephiles. At its peak in January 2022 its monthly active users were estimated at 1.29 million, but the global streamers were already pulling the market away.

The economics turned. Watcha's revenue fell 22.8% in 2024 to ₩33.8 billion, it posted a net loss of ₩8.3 billion, and its current liabilities exceeded current assets by ₩90.7 billion. In 2021 it had raised a ₩49 billion convertible bond; by November 2024 that bond came due and the company could not repay it or negotiate an extension, prompting its auditor to refuse an opinion on the accounts.

On August 4, 2025, the Seoul Rehabilitation Court opened rehabilitation proceedings for Watcha after its bondholder InLight Ventures filed the petition. Monthly active users had fallen to about 460,000 — a third of the 2022 peak — as users left for Netflix and the other global OTT services that had come to dominate the Korean market.