Pledis Entertainment collaborated with Fantagio Entertainment, an acting agency, for Hello Venus' showcase in April. According to reports from both agencies, the group has already been preparing for their first single, a dance song from a famous composer. Fantagio revealed, "They�ve trained for about a year and a half. Four members are from Fantagio and three are from Pledis, and after their debut, Fantagio will be managing the acting portions of their promotion while Pledis will be taking over variety."

Yoo Ara, Yoonjo and Lime were trainees, called 'Pre-School Girls', of sister group After School, with the former two featuring on their first album Virgin. Lime was featured as a backing vocalist on the song "Love Letter" under her real name Hyelim, while Yoo Ara also sang and appeared in the music video. All three girls were expected to join After School at some point. Yoo Ara, along with fellow Pledis trainee Kyungmin, were the final two candidates to become After School's ninth member, however E-Young was added instead. Lime was also in the pre-debut line-up of a girl group called Viva Girls consisting of several members including Nine Muses member Kyungri. However, the group disbanded and each girl left the company.

Hello Venus first became known under the name Venus, after Pledis' CEO updated his Twitter biography with the name. It was first rumoured to be an After School sub-unit, but was later updated under the name "helLOVEnus", and confirmed to be a brand new group. On April 17, 2012, Hello Venus was officially announced with a teaser image, along with the opening of an official website, Facebook, Twitter, Daum Caf� and YouTube channel. The final group had become 6 members, containing 3 members from Pledis: Yoo Ara, Yoonjo and Lime, and 3 members from Fantiago: Alice, Nara and Yooyoung. They are expected to make their official debut on May 9, 2012. Pledis announced a first teaser video of 1st mini album on April 26, 2012.