I.B.I (band)

Pre-debut: Produce 101

In January 2016, Mnet aired the first episode of its new survival show, Produce 101, wherein 101 female trainees from various South Korean entertainment companies competed to debut in an 11-member girl group which would promote for a year under YMC Entertainment. The show ended in April, and I.O.I was formed.

Contestants Lee Hae-in (Individual trainee, formerly SS Entertainment), Kim So-hee (Music Works), Yoon Chae-kyung (DSP Media), Lee Su-hyun (Individual trainee, formerly SS Entertainment) and Han Hye-ri (Star Empire Entertainment) ranked 17th, 15th, 16th, 13th and 12th respectively in the final episode of Produce 101. These five girls got popular and gained many fans respectively during Produce 101. After Produce 101 ended, fans of these 5 girls imagined the debut of an imaginary girl group consisting of the 5 of them together. There were many fan-arts of these 5 girls as an imaginary group shared online through various websites that have garnered a lot of attention. LOEN Entertainment eventually decided to make this imaginary girl group of the fans a reality. LOEN Entertainment formed project girl group consists of these 5 girls named 'I.B.I'. The term was once used during 2nd episode of I.O.I's reality show LAN Cable Friend, where members of I.O.I's subunit played a series of games with Team I.B.I which consisted of a few former Produce 101 contestants including the I.B.I members with the exception of Yoon Chae-kyung.

LOEN Entertainment started promoting I.B.I with a series of profile pictures teaser and YouTube videos of the I.B.I members (individually and as a group) singing their favorite song live. A webtoon series titled 'I.B.I's Debut Story' drawn by popular webtoon artist Omyo was also released around the same time in 5 parts depicting each member's debut story.

2016: Debut with MOLAE MOLAE

I.B.I released their digital single album MOLAE MOLAE (몰래몰래) on August 18, 2016. On the same day, the group held their debut showcase and made their debut stage on M! Countdown.

On August 19, 2016, I.B.I made their debut stage on Music Bank. They also held a guerrilla concert 'Run to You' on the very same day at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), performing their title song 'MOLAE MOLAE' and songs like 'When the Cherry Blossom Fade' and 'PICK ME'.

Travel Variety Show: Hello I.B.I

I.B.I flew to Thailand on 22 September 2016 to film their 6 episodes travelling reality program called Hello I.B.I where the first episode was aired on 8 October 2016 and the last episode on 12 November 2016.

Lee Hae-in

Lee Hae-in (이해인) was born on (1994-07-04) July 4, 1994 in Changwon, South Korea. She is the leader of the group.

She and bandmate Lee Su-hyun were former Jellyfish Entertainment trainees and were also former SS Entertainment trainees, they filed a lawsuit against SS Entertainment in May 2016 because of unfair terms in their contracts. The two represented SS Entertainment on Produce 101, along with another trainee, Seo Hye Lin.

Hae-in appeared on the music video of The Legend's "Lost", prior to joining Produce 101. She also made a cameo appearance in a mockumentary show, 'The God of Music 2' and a special appearance in C.I.V.A's "WHY" MV.

Kim So-hee

Kim So-hee (김소희) was born on (1995-01-20) January 20, 1995 in Busan, South Korea. She is from Music Works.

So-hee, along with fellow member Chae-kyung was cast in Mnet's mockumentary show, ‘The God of Music 2’. She later debuted as a member of C.I.V.A a project girl group created from the show, releasing a remake of Diva's "Why Do You Call Me" in July 2016.

Yoon Chae-kyung

Yoon Chae-kyung (윤채경) was born on (1996-07-07) July 7, 1996 in South Korea. She is from DSP Media.

Prior to joining Produce 101, Chae-kyung was a member of the now disbanded DSP Media girl group Puretty, which debuted in January 2012 and was mainly active in Japan. In 2014, she appeared on the MBC Music survival show, Kara Project, competing with other female trainees to debut as a new member of the girl group KARA.

On June 1, 2016, she released a duet with April's Chaewon titled "Clock". In July, she together with So-hee was cast in 'The God of Music 2' and also debuted as a member of C.I.V.A.

On November 11, 2016, it is announced that Chaekyung has been added as a member to DSP Media's Girl Group 'April'.

Lee Su-hyun

Lee Su-hyun (이수현) was born on (1996-09-05) September 5, 1996 in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

She was a former trainee of Jellyfish Entertainment along with Lee Hae-in before the two of them transferred to SS Entertainment. They represented SS Entertainment on Produce 101 along with another trainee and after the show, the two filed a lawsuit against the company because of unfair terms in their contracts and eventually left on May 25, 2016.

Su-hyun like Hae-in also made a cameo appearance in 'The God of Music 2' and a special appearance in C.I.V.A's "WHY" MV.

On January 13, 2017, Suhyun signed an exclusive contract with HYWY Entertainment.

Han Hye-ri

Han Hye-ri (한혜리) was born on (1997-08-24) August 24, 1997 in Gwangmyeong, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea. She is from Star Empire Entertainment.On June 5, 2016, Hyeri together with her fellow OMZM's group members (Kim Yunji and Kang Sihyeon) held a busking event in Hongdae. Ever since Produce 101 ended, she has received many Commercial Film (CF) offers and even participated in a mobile variety show "Idol Intern King" alongside 5 girls from 5 different girl groups to undergo challenges of an internship life.

She also made a cameo appearance in 'The God of Music 2' where all the other IBI members were also a part of the show.

Hyeri together with her fellow label mate Sojin (Nine Muses) will be in a drama "Idol Master KR Dreams" which will be aired at the beginning of 2017.

On January 3, 2017, Hyeri signed an exclusive contract with Star Empire Entertainment as an artist.