# Ikkjin Ahn

> Ikkjin Ahn is the co-founder and CEO of Moloco, the machine learning-powered advertising platform he built from scratch after spotting a gap at Google: 90% of apps in the Play Store weren't making money. Armed with insights from building YouTube's monetization engine, he launched Moloco in 2013 to democratize access to the kind of AI that only tech giants could afford. Thirteen years later, the company is a $1.5B+ unicorn with 700+ employees across 12 offices, over $200M in annual revenue, and profitable for five consecutive years - a rare combination in Silicon Valley. As of early 2026, Moloco is weighing an IPO.

- **Role:** Co-founder and CEO at Moloco
- **Organizations:** Moloco
- **From:** South Korea
- **Nationality:** South Korean
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Economics, Seoul National University, Master's Degree, University of Pennsylvania, Graduate studies in Computer Science, University of California, San Diego
- **Known for:** Co-founded Moloco in 2013, growing it to a $1.5B+ unicorn with 700+ employees, Led Moloco to 5+ consecutive years of profitability - rare in high-growth tech, Received Google Citizenship Award (2012)

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Software Engineer at 01 Inc.
- **2008** — Joined YouTube as Software Engineer on Monetization team; helped develop YouTube's video profitability prediction system
- **2010** — Joined Google as Staff Software Engineer / Tech Lead Manager, founding the Android Data (Big Data) team
- **2012** — Received Google Citizenship Award; identified that 90% of Google Play Store apps generated no revenue
- **2013** — Co-founded Moloco with fellow machine learning engineers from Google and YouTube
- **2014** — Moloco raises $4M Series A
- **2018** — Moloco raises $11M Series B led by Samsung Ventures and Draper Athena
- **2021** — Named Korean Marketer of the Year by Korea Marketing Association; Moloco achieves unicorn status with $1.5B valuation; raises $150M Series C led by Tiger Global
- **2023** — Named one of Goldman Sachs' Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs at Builders and Innovators Summit; Moloco launches streaming monetization product and ASUM 2.0 partnership with SK Telecom
- **2026** — Moloco weighing IPO; company reaches $200M+ ARR with 5 consecutive years of profitability

## Achievements

- Co-founded Moloco in 2013, growing it to a $1.5B+ unicorn with 700+ employees
- Led Moloco to 5+ consecutive years of profitability - rare in high-growth tech
- Received Google Citizenship Award (2012)
- Named Korean Marketer of the Year by the Korea Marketing Association (2021)
- Named one of Goldman Sachs' Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs at the Builders and Innovators Summit (2023)
- Grew Moloco to $200M+ ARR serving 250,000+ advertisers and 2.3B daily active users
- Built Moloco into one of the Deloitte Fast 500 fastest-growing companies
- Recognized by Financial Times as one of the fastest-growing companies globally
- Named to Business Insider's Top 16 Hottest Ad Tech Companies

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Bloomberg reported Moloco is weighing an IPO and in early discussions with potential advisers
- **2025-06** — Ikkjin Ahn scheduled as a speaker at DTW Ignite 2025
- **2024-12** — Moloco reaches $200M+ ARR, 5 consecutive years of profitability, and $2B+ in annualized ad spend
- **2023-10** — Goldman Sachs named Ikkjin Ahn one of the Most Exceptional Entrepreneurs at Builders and Innovators Summit
- **2023-06** — Moloco launches ASUM 2.0 platform in partnership with SK Telecom as part of K-AI Alliance

## Links

- Website: https://moloco.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ikkjin-ahn-a090937/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/molocoinc/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ikkjin-ahn
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-26