Latest on Korean Startups
Mergers & Acquisitions
Toss’ TADA sale back to square one; its mobility push faces setback
Viva Republica Inc., South Korea’s fintech unicorn operating mobile financial platform Toss, is at a crossroads as its second attempt to sell TADA has fallen through, and its bid to turn the financial service platform into a super app has hit
Aug 09, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean SMEs
Korean boiler makers set sights on Central, South America
South Korea’s major boiler manufacturers are stepping up overseas expansion to diversify beyond the saturated domestic market, setting their s...
Aug 07, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
S.Korean LLM by Upstage beats global benchmark ChatGPT
The latest artificial intelligence model of South Korean AI startup Upstage scored higher than ChatGPT by global AI giant OpenAI in a world-recogniz...
Aug 01, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
S.Korea to form $6.2 bn corporate venture capital fund pool by 2025
The South Korean government and the private sector will jointly create a corporate venture capital (CVC) fund pool worth more than 8 trillion won ($...
Jul 24, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Upcoming IPOs
Fabless FADU taps institutional demand to raise about $151 mn
FADU Technology, the first unicorn in South Korea’s semiconductor sector, has embarked on a process to raise up to 193.8 billion won ($151 mil...
Jul 24, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Nanotech startup Deepsmartech crowned at D.Day’s July demo day
Nanotech startup Deepsmartech celebrated its victory Thursday at July D.Day, held on Jeju Island, a South Korean resort isle poised to become the co...
Jul 21, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
KKR leads $190 mn Series C funding of fashion platform Musinsa
South Korea’s leading fashion platform Musinsa said on Wednesday it has attracted 240 billion won ($189.7 million) in its Series C funding rou...
Jul 19, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Electric vehicles
Everon attracts $39 mn thanks to hot VC demand for EV charging
Everon, one of South Korea’s top three electric vehicle charging infrastructure and management service providers, raised 50 billion won ($39 m...
Jul 13, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Regulations
Go bolder with regulatory reform to foster unicorns in Korea: KERI
Regulatory reform is still slow in South Korea, obstructing innovation in technologies and industries, and the government must take bolder action to...
Jul 12, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Ad-tech unicorn Moloco’s endeavor to unlock potential continues
SILICON VALLEY – Moloco Inc., a Silicon Valley-based ad-tech solution startup valued at more than $2 billion, is dreaming big to become a vers...
Jul 10, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Korean startups feel bite of funding drought in H1
The drought in venture capital funding worsened in South Korea in the first half of this year, taking an especially heavy toll on platform and b...
Jul 07, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean chipmakers
Samsung Electronics to aid foundry clients with state-of-the-art tech
Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s largest memory chipmaker, will provide its foundry clients with state-of-the-art technology to support th...
Jul 05, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Automobiles
Hyundai, Kia invest extra $1.5 mn in automotive chip startup
Hyundai Motor Co. and Kia Corp. announced on Wednesday that they have invested extra 2 billion won ($1.54 million) in BOS Semiconductors, a vehicle ...
Jun 28, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
AI talent shortage poses threat to Korean AI tech development
Since the advent of the AI-powered chatbot sensation ChatGPT, the battle to win AI talent across companies large and small has intensified, threaten...
Jun 23, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Private equity
Korea’s SK Square sells off entire stake in Grab as shares tumble
SK Square Co., the intermediate holding company of South Korea’s SK Group, has liquidated Grab Geo Holdings, a joint venture with Grab Holding...
Jun 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Metaverse
Startup Spatial looks to become YouTube in metaverse
Metaverse platform startup Spatial aims to grow into a company that allows users to enjoy interactive content together, as COVID-19 has increased th...
Jun 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
S.Korea has just 1.2% of world's corporate unicorns: study
Among 10 major economies worldwide, South Korea's global share of unicorn companies, or startups with a corporate value of over $1 billion, has shru...
Jun 22, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Seoul to build world's largest startup campus by 2030
The Seoul Metropolitan Government will establish the world’s largest startup campus in the capital city of South Korea by 2030, benchmarking S...
Jun 21, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Venture capital
Vertex Ventures US upbeat for data startups
The healthcare, manufacturing, mobility and retail sectors were slower to adopt digital technologies than the telecom and e-commerce industries in...
Jun 16, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Generative AI startup Wrtn attracts nearly $12 mn in investment
South Korea's advanced tech startup Wrtn Technologies, a major player in generative artificial intelligence (AI), has attracted investment of 15 bil...
Jun 16, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean SMEs
S.Korea bets on 2nd Middle East boom for SMEs, startups
The Middle East is emerging as a key export market for South Korean small enterprises and startups desperate for global expansion to tide over the e...
Jun 15, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
OpenAI’s Sam Altman seeks help from Korean startups, chipmakers
Sam Altman, chief executive of Microsoft-backed OpenAI and ChatGPT creator, said on Friday that he hopes to collaborate with South Korean developers...
Jun 09, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Food & Beverage
Craft brewery startups poised to revolutionize brew scene in South Korea
Craft beers and highballs from emerging breweries and distilleries are poised to disturb the South Korean alcoholic beverage market dominated by gia...
Jun 08, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Bredis Healthcare, Tilda win June D.Day, Korea’s oldest startup pitch race
An early-stage startup by young entrepreneurs who developed a digital diagnostic tool for brain disease and an AI-powered business optimization prog...
Jun 05, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean startups opt for Konex, loans for survival during IPO winter
South Korea's anemic initial public offering market has forced the country’s startups to become more creative in raising funds as they shift t...
Jun 02, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Automobiles
S.Korea's Tada ride-hailing app introduces English service for foreigners
South Korean ride-hailing platform TADA, operated by VCNC, announced on Thursday the introduction of an English language service to its app, in a mo...
Jun 02, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Artificial intelligence
Riiid inks deal with ALC to expand its AI-based TOEIC platform in Japan
South Korean AI-powered edtech firm, Riiid, announced on Thursday it has partnered with ALC, a premier brand in the Japanese language education indu...
Jun 02, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
Korean AI startup ActionPower poised to outdo OpenAI, Google: CEO
ActionPower Corp. founded in 2016 is small and young compared to Big Tech companies or heavily funded startups like OpenAI but it is mighty enough t...
May 31, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
S.Korean startup Drama & Company introduces AI talent recruiter
Drama & Company, the developer of South Korea’s popular cloud-based business card management app Remember, is readying its next business w...
May 25, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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Korean startups
GoodGang Labs attracts $2 mn from Kakao Investment
South Korea's GoodGang Labs, a startup focused on developing a 3D avatar-based communication platform, announced on Thursday that it has secured an ...
May 25, 2023 (Gmt+09:00)
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