Latest on Korean Startups
NFTs
Gallery Hyundai paints new chapter with NFT
South Korea’s Gallery Hyundai paints a new future by incorporating NFT (non-fungible token.) The country’s first commercial art gallery announced the launch of a separate entity named AIT on Wednesday. Gallery Hyundai CEO Do Hyun
Feb 10, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Nuvilab uses the latest tech to tackle age-old issue of food waste
South Korea’s food data analysis firm Nuvilab, Inc. is not a household name – at least yet. The startup is rather familiar to investors...
Feb 09, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Energy
SoftPV thinks outside the box to make marble-like modules
The solar energy sector is enjoying renewed interest on the back of growing interest by investors in companies with good ESG (Environmental, Social,...
Feb 09, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Blockchain
NHN looks to regain former glory as online game powerhouse
South Korea’s first-generation game developer NHN Corp. is gearing up to regain its past glory as the leader of the game industry.The tech gia...
Feb 08, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Shopping platform Queenit receives $43 mn funding from VC juggernauts
Online shopping platform Queenit recently received 36 billion won ($30 million) from Kakao Ventures Corp., SoftBank Ventures Korea Corp. and more,...
Feb 07, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Entertainment
Kakao to launch webtoon service Piccoma in France
Kakao Corp. announced Sunday that it plans to launch the European version of its webtoon subscription service in either April or May of this year....
Feb 07, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Fintech
Neck-and-neck contest for fintech assoc. chair narrows
For the first time ever, South Korea’s fintech industry association will see meaningful competition in electing its chair this month – r...
Feb 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
AI startup OnePredict gears up for $25 mn funding round
South Korean AI solutions provider OnePredict is set to begin a 30 billion won ($25 million) funding round. The Seoul-based startup provides in...
Feb 04, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Digital assets
Game developers rush to launch their own digital coins
South Korea’s game developers are in a tight race to create their own digital tokens and to build viable ecosystems that utilize these cryptoc...
Feb 03, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Viva Republica poised to become Korea’s fourth decacorn
Viva Republica Inc., the operator of fintech platform Toss, is revving up for a pre-IPO. When finalized, the company will become South Korea’s...
Feb 02, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Netmarble vows aggressive expansion in blockchain, metaverse
Netmarble Corp. unveiled detailed plans for a hawkish entry into the blockchain and metaverse industries on Thursday. The mobile game developer...
Jan 27, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
LG Group invests $21 mn in vegan egg maker Eat Just
LG Group plans to invest 25 billion won ($21 million) in California-based plant-based food maker Eat Just, Inc. The news follows an announcement by ...
Jan 26, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Korea’s biotech startup Voronoi to go public in March
South Korea’s biotechnology startup Voronoi Inc. plans an initial public offering in March to raise up to 130 billion won ($108.4 million).Vor...
Jan 25, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Naver recruits two AI scholars based in US
Naver Corp. is ramping up its recruitment of global talent in artificial intelligence. The South Korean tech giant announced Monday that it h...
Jan 25, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Zuckerberg-backed family office bets on Korean golf platform
ICONIQ Capital, a US family office backed by Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has invested 50 billion won ($42 million) in Smartscore, a South ...
Jan 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Mergers & Acquisitions
China’s ByteDance invests $42 mn in Korea’s KidariStudio
China’s ByteDance Ltd., the developer of video-sharing social networking service TikTok, announced Friday that it invested 48 billion won ($42...
Jan 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Pharmaceuticals
Korean pharma joins global race in RNA therapeutics development
The field of ribonucleic acid (RNA) therapeutics, once considered an unexplored area, is now the most coveted sector in the global biotech industry....
Jan 21, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Blockchain
NAVER revs up its NFT arm
South Korea’s internet juggernaut NAVER Corp. is gearing up to enter the NFT business – through its affiliate LINE Corp.LINE NEXT, a ven...
Jan 19, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Stonebridge Ventures to set up $168 mn new fund in H1
Stonebridge Ventures Inc., South Korea’s most profitable venture capital firm, plans to establish a fresh fund of $168 million, the largest in...
Jan 19, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Chief Executives
Kurly CEO Sophie Kim on the road less traveled
Kurly Inc. CEO Sophie Kim had her first quarrel with her husband while waiting two hours in line to get into the parking lot of Costco.Reminiscing...
Jan 19, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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IPOs
Startup accelerator FuturePlay pushes ahead with IPO
Startup accelerator FuturePlay is pushing ahead with an initial public offering. The decision follows similar moves by Korean venture capital and ac...
Jan 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean Startups
STIC injects $168 mn in pre-unicorn Musicow
Music copyright trading platform Musicow Inc. has attracted a 200 billion won ($167.9 million) investment from Korea’s private equity firm STI...
Jan 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
AI humans take quantum leap in Korean entertainment and media
At first glance, ETERN!TY is similar to other K-pop bands – dancing to upbeat music and the female members donning pink tennis outfits. W...
Jan 18, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
SK Networks invests $20 mn in vegan leather producer
SK Networks Co. announced Friday it has invested $20 million in California-based biotech startup MycoWorks. The general trading arm of South ...
Jan 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
DoubleU invests $1.5 million in Epic Games
South Korea’s DoubleU Games Co. announced Friday that its subsidiary DoubleDown Interactive LLC invested $1.5 million in North Carolina-base...
Jan 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Baby Shark becomes first YouTube video to surpass 10 bn views
Baby Shark became the first video to reach more than 10 billion views on YouTube on Jan 13. This milestone follows the same video becoming the most-...
Jan 14, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Korean AI startups blaze trails in overseas markets
Artificial intelligence-powered image analysis company Alchera Inc. is working with PG&E (The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) in t...
Jan 13, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Logistics
Mesh to raise up to $253 mn to become logistics unicorn
Logistics service provider Mesh Korea Co. plans to raise 200 billion to 300 billion won ($168.6 million to $253 million) in its upcoming rights is...
Jan 13, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
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Automobiles
Motional to begin robotaxi dispatch next year
US-based autonomous vehicle company Motional Inc. announced its plans for the commercialization of driverless cars based on the all-electric Hyundai...
Jan 13, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)
6 Min read
Hidden Champions
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Koh Young Technology Inc
Published: Sep 21, 2020
Last updated: Jan 20, 2023
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Buhmwoo Group
Published: Apr 21, 2021
Last updated: Jan 30, 2023
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T-Robotics
Published: Mar 25, 2021
Last updated: Jan 30, 2023
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3G Technologies
Published: Sep 25, 2020
Last updated: Jul 06, 2021
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Jong Ie Nara
Published: May 26, 2021
Last updated: Apr 15, 2022
Future Unicorns
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